


This Too Shall Pass

by accelgors



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Apologies, Around canon time, Chapter 1 not withstanding, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Forgiveness, Found Family, Gabe isn't as much of an asshole as he seems, Happy Ending, Jack and McCree as friends, M/M, Post-Fall of Overwatch, Recovery, Slow Burn, Talon Infiltration Theory, These old men just need to talk, discussion of suicide, switching POVs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:34:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 48,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23788654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accelgors/pseuds/accelgors
Summary: After being pushed to his breaking point, and with help from his friends, Jack Morrison starts to recover from his trauma and move on.Meanwhile, Gabriel Reyes realizes that his worst fear is being forgotten.
Relationships: Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Comments: 10
Kudos: 120





	1. Limit

Jack Morrison stood in front of the door of an Overwatch base, Ana at his side. Well, ‘stood’ was a strong word; he was more slumped against the wall. He’d suffered serious injuries to his leg in a fight with some Talon officials, ones that even his healing factor couldn’t get rid of easily. There were very few places he wanted to be less than here, but he knew it wasn’t his choice.

“Can’t you just stitch me up on your own?” Jack complained, although he knew the answer.

Ana shook her head. “I already told you, no. Only Angela can help you, and this is where she is right now.” She gave an exasperated sigh as she watched Jack limp closer to the door. “I still don’t understand why you don’t just let me carry you.”

“Don’t need it,” Jack grunted. He probably did, but his pride would never allow him to admit that aloud. It was already bad enough that he was here in the first place, let alone not even being able to walk himself.

Although Ana clearly didn’t believe him, she didn’t seem interested in arguing (or ‘reasoning’, as she called it). “You shouldn’t be so afraid. They’ll be happy to see you’re alive.”

He really hated Ana’s ability to see right through his bravado like that. “They’ll hate me for not coming back sooner, and you know it.” 

Ana gave him a disapproving look, the kind a mother has when she’s scolding her child. “Stop making excuses. These are some of the kindest people we know. If anyone will forgive you, it’s them.”

“Overwatch screwed them all over,” Jack said. Whoops. He hated it when he accidentally let out his self-loathing. “They blame me.” _And they should._

Instead of responding, Ana knocked on the door. Jack immediately tried to walk away, but his injury didn’t allow him to get away before Ana grabbed him. 

He heard Athena say something from inside, but couldn’t make out what it was. The door opened, revealing Lena on the other side. 

She stared at Ana, mouth agape. “Cap? Is that you?”

Ana nodded. “I have a guest, as well.” Although Jack tried to fight her off, she removed his mask, revealing his identity. Dammit. That was his secret way out of this. 

“C-Commander?” She asked, sounding even more shocked than she was at Ana. She surveyed both of them for a moment, then gave a big smile. “It’s so great to see you!” 

Well, she forgave easily.

Lena allowed them inside. When they reached the common area, they were met with the predictable shock and confusion. Jack looked around the room to see who was with them. So many familiar faces. He couldn’t help but feel a bit of nostalgia, but mixed with shame for how he’d hurt these people. He could see Winston, Lena, Mei, Reinhardt, Genji, Echo, Angela, Brigitte (she had grown up so much), McCree, and, most shockingly of all, the real D. Va. Wasn’t she some game streamer?

Even though Jack expected instant condemnation, the reaction of these people was mostly that of excitement. Maybe they didn’t hate him quite as much as the rest of the world did. He supposed he should be grateful for that.

The room started to quiet down, and everyone sat near each other. “You guys need to tell us what happened,” Winston said.

“Where have y’all been?” McCree asked, a touch of anger in his voice. Jack knew he deserved it, but it still stung.

“Chasing Reyes,” Jack said, hoping they wouldn’t ask him too many questions about it. McCree opened his mouth to speak, but Jack cut him off. “Yeah, he’s still alive too. ‘Reaper’ is him.”

Everyone in the room started to talk to each other, and the noise level began to set Jack on edge. Loud noises weren’t something he appreciated. “It’s true,” he heard Angela speak up. “We saw him in Cairo.”

Nobody said anything for a moment. Probably absorbing the massive amount of information they'd had thrown at them. Eventually, Winston exclaimed, “This is great!” He got up out of his chair, smiling. "You can give us information on how to catch him.”

“Out of the question,” Jack said, almost instantly. “This is my problem to deal with. Don’t need to rope the rest of you into it.” Secretly, he knew that they’d arrest Gabriel, and he didn’t want that. He just wanted to reason with him. Running off with him was his stupid fantasy, and a major reason why he didn’t want to be here in the first place.

“Then why are you here now?” Angela said.

Rather than saying anything verbally, Jack lifted his pant leg, showing the severe wound in his calf. They had done their best to keep it from getting infected, but it still didn’t look pretty. He saw everyone in the room cringe.

He heard expressions of sympathy, but tuned out as his mind turned to Gabriel again. How could they fix this without getting him taken away again? Jack couldn’t lose him a second time. Absolutely unacceptable. He saw Ana starting to explain to the others what had happened to them recently, and he let her do the talking. It would be easier that way, anyway. Angela spoke as well, which probably meant everyone would know about the shotgun wound and his encounters with Gabriel. That certainly wouldn’t help them give any mercy to him. Oh well. Hopefully they wouldn’t get any access to him.

Jack returned his attention to the conversation when he saw the others convene for a moment, then look back at them. “We decided that you can stay as long as you need,” Lena said, with a touch of joy in her voice. Like she still genuinely liked him. That was a shock. It must just be for Ana. 

Winston nodded. "We won't take you to the police, either, even if you were breaking the law. I mean, we technically are breaking it right now," he said, with a toothy grin.

Later, the other agents set up two rooms for them to stay in. They were incredibly accommodating, really. Jack couldn’t help but be grateful, as much as he didn’t want to be here.

Within a couple hours, he was in the operating room, with Angela healing his injuries with her staff. The wound decreased in size and lost its angry red color almost immediately. After a while of healing, Angela let him leave, telling him to come back tomorrow and avoid putting too much weight on it for the next couple days. Far from the worst injury report he'd gotten.

Jack excused himself to his room as quickly as he could, even though Ana was being social with the others. He had a bit of research to look over. After hearing that Gabriel had been sighted in this region, he knew that there was still a possibility that Jack could find him again while remaining near this base. He supposed it was a win-win, in its own way.

He had put down his massive pile of evidence and connections in his new room, making sure to lock it away so no one but himself could see it. He opened the locked drawer and pulled out his holo pad. Listening to recent reports from a contact, he heard something shocking:

Gabriel might be right around the base tomorrow.

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

\--

The next day, Jack’s injury had mostly healed. Angela’s technology was incredible. However, Ana didn’t want him to leave until he was fully recovered, but he knew that Gabriel was in the area. This was too important.

When the sky darkened, Jack crept out of the Overwatch base and into the night, mask and visor on. Really, he didn’t need to hide the fact that he was going out from the others, but starting a conflict would just waste his time. He couldn’t have any distractions. Not when Gabriel was probably so close.

They didn’t understand. All he needed to do was get Gabriel to actually talk to him instead of fighting. He was almost at a breakthrough. If he could just get Gabriel back on his side, it would not only give him the man he loved back, but would also be a huge asset in his fight against Talon. If he got him back, it would give him everything he needed. That wasn’t an opportunity he was going to give up, his own health be damned.

The area around the base showed clear signs of population, with an ample amount of buildings and cars, but the streets were mostly empty of people. It was relatively late at night, and this wasn't an entirely urban area; which was lucky for him, because it meant less obstacles to go through. After walking through the streets outside of the base for nearly an hour, he saw a very subtle trail of black smoke in front of him. He froze. That was definitely Gabriel. He'd recognize it anywhere.

Immediately giving chase, he ran as fast as he could, but the smoke seemed to always be just past his reach. Like Gabriel was toying with him. It was always in his nature to be as frustrating as possible, even now.

Eventually, he ran behind the corner of a building into an alley, but couldn’t find the smoke anymore. He searched around the area, but there was very little light to search with. It would be incredibly easy for Gabriel to blend with the darkness of the night, ghosting his way into the shadows once again. Jack cursed under his breath. If Gabriel had just done that to waste his time, he would be incredibly annoyed.

Jack was startled when something knocked him over. Colliding with the concrete underneath him was painful, and would probably leave bruises on any normal person; his healing factor was always a lifesaver in situations like these. “What the fu--” He grunted, until he realized: Gabriel had pushed him down.

If he was going to try to reason with him, now was the only chance he had. Although judging by his violent reaction, his odds were looking pretty shitty. He got up, his still somewhat injured leg slightly protesting, and put his hands in front of him. “Gabe, I’m not here for a fight.”

As Gabriel manifested before him, mask on, he heard a snort. “That’s rich. Then what do you want?”

He could just sense the snarl behind Gabriel’s mask. Although he wanted to bark something rude back, an urge came over him. One to end all of this. He took off his mask. “I want you to listen to me.”

“All you ever wanted was to hear yourself talk,” Gabriel growled.

"Gabe, I know you're mad. But can't you give me a chance?" Jack pleaded. "We could fix it all together."

"You don't know shit," Gabriel spat. "Do you know how it feels to be this _thing?_ It hurts every fucking second. And you were the one that did it to me, so don't you fucking tell me you _know."_ Gabriel's whole body shook with rage, until he rushed at Jack again. Jack dodged as well as he could, but the claw of Gabriel’s armor clipped the side of his jacket. Jack heard a small tear, and something came out of a pocket.

He looked down and saw that it was the picture. The one of him, Gabriel, and Ana. His reminder of happier times. Of when he had so much, and never appreciated it enough. While Jack was staring at it, Gabriel grabbed it from the ground.

“You keep this with you?” Gabriel said, sounding surprised.

Jack looked down. Dammit, he was letting his emotions get in his way again. He tried to hold himself back, to keep up some kind of tough image. But seeing Gabriel’s face there - his _real_ face, not a mask - was too much. He didn’t want to do this anymore. “I’m sorry,” he said. Gabriel froze, while Jack was fighting back tears. “Don’t you get it?! I just want things back to normal! I want you to come home. Please. I know I fucked up. But I miss you. I miss my old life.” The confession hurt, and he regretted it almost immediately afterwards. This was him at his most vulnerable, and he didn't like that idea. Not in these circumstances.

After a moment of silence, both of them simply staring at each other, Gabriel found the worst way to hurt Jack:

He tore the picture in half.

Jack simply watched, mouth agape, as Gabriel threw it to the ground and stomped on it. “Your old life is gone. It’s never coming back.”

An unpleasant tension surged through Jack's stomach, making him feel sick. The floodgates opened, and Jack started to cry. He fought the tears as much as he could, but that only made him feel worse. Did Gabriel really hate him this much after all? He didn’t want to accept it. He couldn’t even bear the idea. “No,” he managed to say.

Obviously not satisfied with how badly he hurt him, Gabriel scoffed. “Give it up, old man.”

Jack’s hands were balled into fists, but he didn’t say anything, as tears continued to fall. God, this was so humiliating. He couldn't even defend himself, because he knew Gabriel was right. He didn't deserve forgiveness, and Gabriel would never give it to him. He felt like such an idiot for even trying. “Gabe, please…”

“Don’t you get it?” Gabriel said, tone cold. “I hate you. You ruined us. You’d be better off dead.” 

On that unpleasant note, Gabriel turned to smoke again and was gone, leaving Jack to cry alone. 

Maybe he was right.

\--

It was just after 11PM when McCree found Jack.

Or, more specifically, when he found Jack pointing his rifle at his own forehead.

His room was a complete mess. Much more than it had been before. There were objects scattered around the room in unusual positions, as if they’d been thrown aside. His visor and mask were tossed into a corner. Jack was sitting in his bed, and McCree could hear muffled sobs emitting from him.

“Morrison, what the hell?!” McCree said upon seeing him.

Jack turned his head around with the ferocious speed of a wild animal. He was in terrible shape, and it was very obvious. Dark circles extended far past his eyes, his normally well-kept hair was in complete disarray with strands poking everywhere, and his face was bright red. As he turned to face McCree, it became more clear how violently he was shaking, and how intense his sobbing was. “Get out!” He yelled.

McCree put his hands in front of himself and walked slowly in his direction. “Put the gun down, Jack.”

Jack stared at him for a moment, a wild look in his eyes. Slowly, his gun dropped to the ground, and he buried his head in his hands. “I’m sorry,” he said, just loudly enough to be heard over the muffling and the sound of his crying. “I’m so--” His sentence was interrupted by coughing, as he seemed to choke on his own words.

When he reached Jack, McCree did the only thing that came to mind: he pulled Jack in and held him as tightly as he could. Jack grabbed on, his fingers digging deep into McCree’s back. Hurt like a bitch, but his own adrenaline was making it difficult to notice. 

A few moments passed, Jack’s breakdown not growing any less violent, until his breathing evened out just enough to speak. “Jesse, I can’t--”

“Shh,” McCree said, rubbing his hand down Jack’s back as delicately as he could. Comforting people wasn’t what he was best at, but he at least knew how to do this much. He pulled back slightly, gripping Jack’s shoulders. “Listen to me, Jack. You gotta stop this.”

Jack was still breathing hard, and the tears had only just started to slow down. “This? What do you-”

McCree glared at him. “Don’t play dumb with me.” Jack looked down at the ground. “You know what I mean. You saw him again, didn’t you?”

Jack didn’t meet his eye. “I couldn’t just leave him--”

“Morrison, look at yourself!” He snapped. “Do you see what he does to you? You almost killed your damn self over him! You can’t let him destroy you like this.”

Jack closed his eyes again, his hands balling into fists. “But it’s my fault he’s like this. It’s all my fucking fault.”

“Who fucking cares whose fault it is?!” McCree shouted. He took a deep breath. Yelling at Jack was just going to make him feel worse. In a lower voice this time, he said, “Jack. It’s time for you to make a choice. You can either let him keep doing this, and end up here again--” He gestured to the half-destroyed room around him -- “Or you can let go. Let us help you. We’ll help you get through it. You don’t have him anymore, but you still got friends.” He grabbed Jack’s chin and forced him to look him in the eyes. “Please.”

When McCree released him, Jack didn’t say anything. He simply stared at the floor. Quietly, he managed, “I just can’t be without Gabe, Jesse.”

McCree glared at him. “You think I don’t miss him too?! That don’t mean I’m gonna kill myself over him, and you shouldn’t either.” 

Jack lowered his head. “If he didn’t get to live, why should I?”

Holding onto Jack again, his grip tighter than before, McCree said, “Stop that.” He sighed. “Jack, even if you don’t believe it, we care about you here, even after everythin’. All of us. Me. Ana. Lena. Reinhardt. We’re your friends. You still gotta chance to make things better. Don’t waste it.”

Jack appeared to consider this for a moment. Eventually, Jack finally met his eye again. “But what do I do without him?” When he asked that question, Jack sounded so lost and alone. 

But maybe they could fix it.

“You live, Jack,” was the only response he could think of. He gave Jack a sympathetic smile, then patted him on the back. “Some folks are still up in the rec room. Let’s go see ‘em.” He extended his hand towards him, and Jack took it. Neither of them noted aloud that Jack’s visor was still off. McCree didn’t want to give him the chance to put a barrier back up between him and the rest of them.

“Thanks, Jesse,” Jack said quietly, voice sounding hoarse as he got up. McCree helped wrap the blanket around Jack’s back, who took hold of it with both hands. Maybe give him a sense of security.

“Anytime.” He looked at Jack again; the better lighting near the hallway highlighted how much of a wreck he looked like. “Should wash your face first. Look like you just walked out a tornado.” 

Jack chuckled and went into the bathroom. A moment later, he came back out, his hair smoothed out and his eyes a bit less swollen. He was still holding onto the blanket like some kind of lifeline. McCree guided him to the rec room. It was late enough at night that only a few people weren’t in their rooms, but Lena, Genji, and Hana were still awake.

As the two walked in, the others looked over, and Jack flinched a bit. McCree rubbed his shoulder. “Jack got a lil’ roughed up by you-know-who. He’s fine, but could kinda use some company.” Jack’s gaze was firmly directed away from the others.

Lena gave him a sympathetic look. God, she was so sweet. “We’d love to hang out with you, Jack! We were just playing some games.” She smiled at Jack and reached for his hand; he turned towards her, looking surprised. As if he wasn’t used to people being nice to him.

“What do you mean _we?”_ Hana said, crossing her arms.

Lena glared at her. “Maybe we’d let you play if you let us win sometime.”

“That ruins the fun,” Hana responded. “It’s not my fault you’re a noob,” she said, pouting.

To McCree’s surprise, he heard a small laugh next to him. Jack had an honest-to-god smile on his face.

Lena stared at Jack, eyes wide. “Haven’t seen you smile since you got here. It’s nice. You should do it more often!”

Jack kept smiling. “Maybe I should.” 

Genji nodded. “You do have a rather sweet smile. I have heard many say they enjoy it.”

Jack said nothing for a moment; it looked like he was starting to tear up again. “Thanks, everyone. You’re the best. All of you,” he said, voice choked up with emotion. After he wiped his eyes once, he looked back at them. “You think an old man might be able to break Hana’s streak?”

“You can try,” Hana said with a confident smirk.

Jack walked towards the center of the room and sat on the couch, draping the blanket over it. Shortly after, he was already playing with the others, scolding Lena and Hana for roughhousing too much. McCree didn’t join in; he just watched, and wondered if he was seeing the beginning of Jack Morrison really coming back.


	2. More to Life

The next morning, Jack wandered through the halls of the base, not entirely sure what he was going to do next. He was still trying to fully recover from such a massive breakdown; his mind felt a bit sluggish, and he didn’t think he could access all of his emotions properly. 

Still, when McCree had been talking him down, he realized something: the other man was right. He couldn’t keep doing this to himself. It wasn’t sustainable, no matter how much he wanted Gabriel back. At this point, it felt like his only options were to either die, or stop this. If he kept going, it would end up killing him one way or another...or he’d actually go through with ending himself.

He could always leave the base now and try to track down Gabriel again. Realistically, he knew that was what would be best for furthering his mission. But even thinking about seeing Gabriel again after their confrontation turned his stomach. What Gabriel had done to him that night hurt much worse than the gunshot wound ever could.

For now, he had agreed to help out around the base when he could. It made him feel like he was being productive in some way, because sitting around doing nothing would be absolutely unbearable for him. Gabriel always called him a type A. Maybe he had a point.

Distracted by his own deep thought, he bumped right into Genji in the hallway. 

“Oh. Uh, sorry,” he said, scratching the back of his head. His reflexes really were shot nowadays.

Genji looked up at him; or at least, Jack thought he did. That mask made it hard to tell. Jack still wasn’t wearing his own mask. It didn’t feel like the barrier even mattered anymore, after those four saw him so vulnerable. No amount of covering would take that back. Was that for the better or worse? “Ah, Jack. I was looking for you.”

Jack cocked his head to the side. “You were?” He wasn’t used to people actually seeking him out.

Genji nodded. “I want you to come with me. Do you have time?”

Jack considered it. “Well, I’m free for a little while. What did you need?”

The lighting on Genji’s mask did not change; it made him a bit more mysterious. Unlike Jack, who wanted to intimidate and cut people off with his mask, Genji’s mask seemed to function more as a way to give off an image to others. “I want you to come see my master. I believe he can help you.”

If he was honest, he didn’t know pretty much anything about the monk Genji was so enamored with. He hadn’t bothered to find out. He knew who the Shambali were, but that was never something he looked too deeply into. Always too hung up on his own problems. “You sure?”

“Yes.” He gripped Jack’s hand. “Do not worry, I will tell you more about him on the way.”

As the two walked through the hallways of the base and out the door, Genji briefed him on what his master did. His name was Zenyatta, and according to Genji, he helped people find internal peace.

“So like some kinda robo shrink?” Jack asked as he stepped outside. It was a sunny Spring day, flowers starting to grow around the base; a stark contrast to the inner turmoil Jack was facing. 

“You could call it that, yes,” Genji said. Jack didn’t know where to go next, so he followed Genji, who walked into a clearing in the backyard. Grass grew around the yard, and someone was maintaining a small garden in a fenced-in area. 

The Omnic he was referring to floated just above one of the rocks in a tiny rock formation, each rock large enough to sit on but not raised too far off the ground. The oddest thing about him were the set of orbs that floated around his head. Jack wasn’t sure he’d ever seen that on any other Omnic, even other Shambali. He turned his head towards the duo. “Hello, Genji. I see you have a guest.”

Genji bowed, and Jack wondered if he was expected to do the same. Or did he use the same etiquette as he did with the priests back home? “Greetings, Master.” 

He turned towards Jack. Oh, right. Say something. Something about this experience just felt so...foreign. “Uh, hey,” Jack said, giving him a weak wave.

“Genji has told me about your struggles, my friend,” Zenyatta said, patting the rock next to him. Jack looked at Genji, who nodded. He supposed that meant he should sit. Not having any other ideas, he sat down on the rock. It was a hard surface, but not too bumpy; still, his old bones would probably get sore if he sat on it too long. “You may not believe it, but I have lost some that have been dear to me as well. It is always very difficult.”

Jack shook his head. “But I didn’t just lose him. It’s my fault he’s gone in the first place. And he’s not just gone, he’s suffering.” Jack started to feel himself descend into that familiar misery, after only this brief contact. “Sorry. Don’t mean to spill my guts at you already. Just...hard for me to not get emotional about it.”

Zenyatta hummed. “In that case, I have an idea.” He took one of the orbs that surrounded him, and handed it to Jack. Jack stared at it for a moment, unsure of what to do. Eventually, he decided to go for it, and took it in his hands.

Something about it was...mesmerizing. It emitted a soft, inviting yellow light, and had its own heat. It didn’t feel like he was holding technology; more like a small piece of sunlight. Something compelled him to bring it closer to his face and investigate it as closely as he could. He felt all along the sides, taking in as much of the warmth as his senses would allow. Slowly, a sense of calm began to overtake his anxiety and dread. “It’s beautiful,” he said, almost involuntarily.

“You may borrow that. Take it with you when you leave this place,” Zenyatta said. With the vague robotic quality of his voice, it was a bit hard to tell what his tone was communicating, but something about it felt very understanding. The guy really would make a good shrink.

“Really?” Jack said, looking up at him. Maybe he should’ve tried to come up with a less awkward-sounding response than that. “I mean, I'm not sure if I--”

Zenyatta chuckled. “You must accept help sometimes, Jack.” Wow, he read him so easily in just a few sentences. “Once you leave, it will only emit that warmth if it senses tension or suffering from you. If you begin to become upset, take it and hold it close.” A part of Jack mourned the fact that he couldn’t have this feeling all the time, but he supposed no good feeling could be permanent.

He couldn’t stop staring at the orb, needing to take in as much of its glow as he possibly could. “Wow.” He felt like a child when he reacted like this, but there was something about it that was so impressive, so novel. “Thanks. I’ll take good care of it.” He held it closer to his chest, protecting it from any harm.

Although his face gave off no expression, Jack got the feeling that Zenyatta would be giving him a warm smile if it did. “You are welcome. I am here with Genji every morning. We would be happy to have you with us sometime.” Genji nodded.

He had been recommended this type of spirituality before as a way to deal with his emotions, but it just wasn’t something he felt able to do. It was hard for him to focus well enough during it, or to invest himself. “I don’t know. Not so good at this...inner peace monk stuff,” Jack said, eloquently.

“I believe you are capable of it,” Zenyatta said. “There is certainly no harm in trying.”

He was right, wasn’t he? “True. Maybe I’ll give it a shot.” Realizing something, Jack got up from the rock, moving out of a slight trance that he didn’t notice he was in until then. “I gotta go. Said I’d make breakfast.” He held the orb securely under his arm. “See you later, Zenyatta.” 

“Goodbye, my friend,” Zenyatta said, waving at him.

As he walked back into the building, Jack wasn’t sure what to take away from that encounter. However, after the orb’s warmth faded as he made it further into the building, he made sure to leave it safely on the desk in his room. Even though he had no proof that the orb was as special as the monk claimed it to be, he had a level of faith that it would help.

It gave him something to believe in, at least.

\--

Jack found himself back in the Necropolis. Nobody was around. He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten here. Whatever the cause was, he decided to try to find Ana. He called her name several times, searching through the relatively small space, but found nothing. Eventually, he entered the area where she had helped Jack recover for the first time, and recoiled in shock.

There was Ana, laying on the ground. Except there was a large hole in the top of her head, right around where her damaged eye was. Blood was splattered across the wall. He gasped and ran towards her to try to help in any way he could, but it felt as if the room was extending, and that every step he ran, he only got further away. A voice echoed in his head. _Your fault. You let this happen._

“No!” He shouted aloud, falling to his knees and grabbing the sides of his head, desperately hoping the voice would go away. He couldn’t bear to hear it. Even if it was true. _She’s dead. Gone forever. Your fault._ “SHUT UP!” He yelled, grabbing a chair next to him and throwing it across the room. 

Gradually, the voice subsided. He looked up to see what caused it to quiet down, and what he saw made him sick to his stomach: it was Gabriel in his Reaper armor, the mask horribly distorted, with extra eyes and gaping holes along its surface. Tears of blood were streaming down his cheeks. Even with the deformities, the eyes were still the same color as Gabriel’s. It was still him in there. Which only made it worse.

“Why did you kill me, Jack?” Gabriel asked in his normal voice. Not even the distorted Reaper one. He sounded so hurt, the tone Jack only heard in Gabriel’s most vulnerable moments.

Jack tried to cover his eyes. “I didn’t mean it, Gabriel! I’m so sorry!”

Slowly, Gabriel took out his shotgun and leveled it at Jack’s head. Jack didn’t even try to fight back, only sitting there, frozen in place. “You deserve this,” Gabriel said, tone having turned cold. Jack didn’t disagree. 

Gabriel’s finger brushed against the trigger, until--

Jack shot up in his bed. He was drenched in sweat and tears, and his blanket was thrown at the wall. He took his pillow and screamed into it, so intensely that his throat started to hurt. As he wildly looked around the room, preparing to fight back if anyone really was attacking him, he saw something glowing on the table:

The orb.

It was his only shot.

Quickly grabbing the orb, he pulled it desperately towards his chest, as if it were his only lifeline. As he tried to muffle his sobbing as much as he could to avoid waking up the rest of the base, he felt the warmth of the orb slowly heating up his core. The warmth spread up his chest and to his head. It gradually built inside of him until it became more powerful than the panic, and his breathing started to slow down. 

He lifted the orb and looked at it more closely, putting it in line with his face. It felt as if he was holding pure positive energy. All he could do was stare at it, utterly transfixed by the power it had.

Gradually, words started to play in his head, growing in volume until they were as loud as the voice in a regular conversation.

_Forgive yourself, Jack._

“I can’t,” he said aloud.

_It is not your fault._

“But…” He couldn’t think of a coherent objection. Were his feelings that unreasonable?

_Remember that she is still alive._

“I know, but I--” He felt like a complete nut talking to this voice, especially since he wasn’t entirely sure where it was even coming from.

_She is with you. As are the rest of us._

“But Gabe isn’t,” Jack said, trying to block the image of the Reaper mask out of his memory.

_You did everything you could, Jack._

“It wasn’t enough, though,” Jack said.

_We all have our shortcomings and mistakes._

Jack looked at the orb. “But what do I do without him? How do I live?” Jack asked, as if it were sentient.

_You can survive, if you let yourself._

“I don’t deserve to survive,” Jack said, knowing how ridiculous that statement would sound if he said it to an actual person.

_Forgive._

He didn’t feel like he could argue anymore. All he did was hold the orb to his middle as closely as he possibly could. He was still crying, but it was more gentle now.

_It is okay to cry. You should not be ashamed of your feelings._

Jack genuinely wasn’t sure if anyone had said that to him before. At least, anyone other than a shrink. “Thank you…” He mumbled.

_You have been greatly hurt. But you will survive._

He cracked a wistful smile. “Maybe I will.” 

The voice didn’t say anything else. After crying a bit more, Jack laid back down on his bed, still clutching the orb to him. He laid on his side, keeping the orb tucked into the space between his stomach and the wall. Lulled by the warmth and positivity, Jack finally managed to relax and sleep, with no further nightmares.

Jack decided to meet Zenyatta and Genji in the yard early. Farm life made him very adept at waking up at sunrise, and he assumed that monks must do the same. Was that a stereotype?

Despite his eagerness for the meeting, Jack decided not to tell them about what had happened the previous night. A part of him was ashamed of it. Having some kind of argument with an orb like a weirdo wasn’t something he was willing to divulge with others aloud. However, he did make sure to leave the orb in a very secure location when he left his room. Just so he knew it was always available.

He saw the two of them in the same place as before. He walked over, trying to keep it at least somewhat casual. 

“Hello, Jack,” Zenyatta said, waving at him. Genji turned around and bowed. “Was the orb helpful to you?”

That question left him in a bit of a predicament. He didn’t want to tell his secret, but at the same time, he worried that Zenyatta may cut off its effect somehow if he didn’t think it was helping Jack. He really had no idea how this technology worked. If it even was technology, and not something entirely different. “Yeah,” he said, deciding to leave it at that.

“That is good to hear,” Zenyatta said; Jack was relieved he didn’t question him any further. “You may use it any time for as long as you like. I have many, you see.” He gently tapped one of the orbs surrounding him, chuckling.

“Really?” Jack wasn’t sure if he felt entirely worthy of having something so powerful. Did it have infinite energy, or was there a way to make it fade from overuse? “Thanks.”

Without needing to be prompted this time, Jack sat down on the rock next to Zenyatta. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was supposed to be doing. He looked at Zenyatta expectantly. The monk started to speak. “I have learned much of the issues you are facing, Jack.”

Jack looked at him, startled. “Ana tell you about me or something?”

Zenyatta shook his head. “No. I learned from another trusted source.”

Could Zenyatta hear what he’d said to the orb after all?

He was a bit angry with himself for revealing all of that. Talking in-depth about his feelings wasn’t something he enjoyed doing, and he’d rather others not think of the way he felt at all. “Are you gonna diagnose me now?” Jack asked, wondering how the hell anyone would classify the issues he was facing.

“I am not a therapist, Jack. I merely wish to help you achieve peace with yourself. My lessons are only a starting point for your recovery,” he said.

Jack wondered if he really wanted to recover. To him, that implied moving on, and he didn’t think he had the right to do that. Not until everything was fixed. Not until everyone had been brought to justice. Not until he resolved his issues with Gabriel. “I dunno…”

“I have noticed that you blame yourself for much,” Zenyatta said, as if he’d read Jack’s mind. It was baffling how easily he could do that. “It is not your responsibility to make the world perfect. It is naturally flawed. It must have bad things to balance with the good. It is not possible to prevent bad things from ever happening, even to those we love.”

As appealing as that argument sounded, he refused to make excuses for himself. “But this stuff is my fault. I made those bad things happen. He would still be himself if it weren’t for me.”

“But how do you know these things would not happen anyway?” He asked. “There were many forces working towards creating a new Omnic Crisis. How can one man stop thousands? You are not the only force in the world, Jack.” Jack noticed a butterfly fly past Zenyatta, while the sunlight reflected off his metallic back; it gave him an ethereal quality, as a small field of light surrounded him. “As for Gabriel, how could you have predicted he would be harmed in such a way?”

Jack shook his head, trying to avoid becoming too mesmerized. “There had to be some way. I can’t believe there was nothing I could’ve done.”

“There are certainly some things we can change, but even the most powerful people cannot stop every force. It is not a fair expectation for yourself.” He paused, letting the statement sink in for a moment. “These are only suggestions, of course. I cannot bring you peace simply through debate. Instead, I would like to ask you to sit here with us.”

Jack shrugged. What did he have to lose? “What do I do now?” He asked, then realized that may have been a stupid question.

If it was, Zenyatta didn’t lambast him for it. “You do not have to join us in meditation. However, I would like to request you do something in the meantime. You should close your eyes, and try to think of every positive thing you have done for the world, especially for your friends.” He knew that both of them had one particular person in mind. “Quell every negative thought until you are finished. Then, you may begin to consider both sides again.”

“I don’t wanna get an ego again. That was what screwed me over last time,” Jack said. His own inability to see negative things in himself and what he’d created was responsible for all of the failures he’d gone through in the first place.

“I will make sure to keep an eye on you,” Zenyatta said. He thought that might be a joke, but did the Shambali even make jokes?

He sighed. Might as well. It probably wouldn’t do anything, but it couldn’t hurt. He closed his eyes.

_One, helped stop the first Crisis._

_Two, built Overwatch._

His mind started to add all the ways Overwatch had failed, but as he listened to the low hum of Zenyatta’s machinery, he blocked those thoughts out.

_Three, the first time I saved Gabe’s life._

During the Crisis, Gabriel had nearly been crushed by a massive Omnic; he only survived because Jack pushed him out of the way, risking himself in the process. Despite himself, that memory made him feel a bit proud.

_Four, gave scientists like Liao and Angela funding and opportunities._

_Five, Gabe’s first anniversary present._

It had been a replica of their dog tags, but with “J + G” in a heart on them. Gabriel had cried when he got them. Thinking about that brought a smile to his face.

_Six, managed to get Jesse a new arm._

_Seven, helping Ana through her divorce._

_Eight, saving Alejandra._

Jack noticed that he now was genuinely in a much better mood that he’d been when he came here. The tension that had built in his muscles was less noticeable. He felt the beginning of tears at the edge of his eyes; but these weren’t out of sadness. Something about thinking this way touched him, and brought a massive weight off his shoulders, even if just temporarily.

As he opened his eyes, content with how far he’d gotten, he noticed that Zenyatta’s head was turned towards him. How the hell did he know Jack was done? This Omnic seemed to know everything. “When you are feeling at your worst, I suggest you continue these positive affirmations. They will help you think more clearly about yourself, and not in an exclusively negative way.”

He wasn’t sure how he felt about using these in the future. What he did know was that for the first time in a very long while, he felt as if he was worth something.

\--

The next day, he heard a knock on the door to his room. He decided not to put his visor on; he rarely wore it around the base nowadays. Opening the door revealed Lena. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Yes?”

She smiled at him. He had to admit, her bubbly disposition made it hard to be grumpy at being disturbed. “Hey! We’re all going to the amusement park down by the beach! Wanna come with?”

Wait. She was inviting him? To something like that? He knew he would just bring the mood down, so he prepared to say no, but Lena didn’t seem interested in giving him a chance to. She grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall. Obviously, she wanted him to go, and he was always bad at saying no to her. He decided to go with it.

Before he knew it, he was outside. It looked like everyone on base was here, all gathered up near the main road out of the base. He hung back away from the crowd and tried to find Ana. That was always what he did in any kind of stressful time, wasn’t it?

She was on the edge of the crowd, right next to Reinhardt. When she saw him, she grinned at him. “I was hoping she would convince you to come.”

He put his hands in his pockets, trying to look casual. In truth, this all made him a bit nervous. He hadn’t been social in a large group in a very long time. “Not like she gave me much choice.” Not that he was exceedingly angry about it; this was just...a lot to handle.

Patting him on the shoulder, she smiled at him, the same nurturing smile that only a mother could give. “Try to enjoy yourself.” 

When was the last time he tried to have fun?

After a somewhat uncomfortable car trip (even though they took 3 cars, there was still not enough room for them all, and God help the people who had to get Winston inside), the group reached the park. _‘Wonder Cove’,_ the sign above them read. The park was larger than he expected, and right next to the beach. In the distance, he could see the massive roller coasters scattered throughout the park, as well as the ferris wheel. 

Some of the younger agents (including Winston) were very excited, to the point of being difficult to control. Reinhardt was trying to keep them in check, without much success. Jack chuckled as he watched their antics. Even though many people would find that unpleasant, Jack felt that these experiences had a certain charm to them. One of the reasons he had always wanted children.

Admissions were chaotic, but eventually, everyone was in the park. It wasn’t too crowded, and the lines were relatively short. If he was honest with himself, some of these rides looked really fun. But something kept him back. Maybe he was hesitant to waste time like this. Time he could be using for his mission. Even if he was on a bit of a ‘break’ from Gabriel, he still had far to go to get answers on the other matters. He had been using intel from the others on base as a way to piece together Talon activities, and to better understand what had happened in Overwatch’s final years, but it felt like every piece of information he got raised more questions than answers.

His train of thought was interrupted by a park goer bumping into him. Right, had to stop spacing out like that. 

Unsurprisingly, Winston was too large for all of the roller coasters. Lena decided that it’d be best to start at the arcade, so he wouldn’t feel left out.

The younger agents quickly ran into the arcade. So much energy. Was he really like that when he was younger? Lena pointed at something and ran towards it. Jack looked after her, and saw that it was skee ball. 

He had been a skee ball champion back in Indiana, and maintained his skill throughout his adulthood. Despite himself, he smiled at the fond memories, although it gave him a looming sadness about the fact that they were long gone.

As he hung back and watched them play, he cringed at their lack of skill. Their form was atrocious. Even Hana didn’t score that many points. 

“Didn’t you always love this game?” Ana asked, startling him. 

Jack nodded, even more memories rushing in, like when he would win local tournaments for small prizes, all the way back to a very young age. “Yeah. Was damn good at it, too.” 

“You should join them,” she said.

He didn’t have time for games, no matter how much he’d enjoy them. “Ana, I can’t—“

“Oh, hush,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Let yourself live, Jack. I won’t let you say no.” He couldn’t tell if the look in her eyes was playful or threatening. 

He supposed he had no other choice. He never made the mistake of messing with Ana on matters like these. 

Taking a deep breath, he walked towards the skee ball machine. Something about this was nerve wracking. Maybe because it showed a bit more humanity than he’d like. 

Without a word, he put his card in the machine, ignoring the surprised looks of the people around him. He hated being stared at nowadays. Reminded him too much of being a media figurehead. Probably judging him—

The machine lit up, and he decided to ignore those thoughts for now. Although he wondered if he’d be a bit rusty, when he rolled the ball, he easily got it in the ‘100’ slot. He rolled it a second time and scored 100 again.

“Go Jack!” He heard Lena say behind him. He appreciated the encouragement, and tried not to look too shocked by it. Really, he didn’t think anyone would care, or they’d be confused at someone like him doing something fun.

Another roll, another 100. He heard several people cheer behind him, and couldn’t keep down a smirk. Oh yeah, he was in his element now. 

After 8 rolls, he scored 750, only missing the 100 slot once. “Not bad for my first time in 5 years.”

“Most impressive!” Reinhardt shouted, in that familiar jovial voice of his; as if Jack had just achieved something groundbreaking instead of just doing well at an arcade game.

Jack ran his hand through his hair, unable to keep down a smile; he couldn’t deny that he liked the positive attention. After being alone and exposed to so much negativity for so long, being praised by a group was a pleasant feeling.

“That was awesome!” Lena cheered. She ran towards him. “Can you show me how to do it?”

He considered refusing; he had already wasted a significant amount of time. However, the look she gave him made it almost impossible. Those damn puppy-dog eyes. Was he really this much of a pushover? “Alright.” He pointed to the machine next to the one he was using. Showing eagerness in every step, Lena approached the machine. “It’s all about your form. Once you get that, all you need to know is how hard to throw it.”

Jack rolled a ball into the ‘100’ hole on his machine. Easy. “Like this?” Lena asked, trying to match his pose, and completely failing. 

Jack shook his head. “Not quite,” he said, not wanting to be too discouraging. Although he gave her another chance to mimic him, it was clear she was lost. “Here.” He grabbed her from behind and adjusted her arms and legs; after that, he guided her through a roll.

Perfect 100.

“Yes!” She shouted, followed by a laugh. A rush of pride went through him, and he couldn’t keep down a grin; she returned it.

Hana moved towards the machines. “Can you show me, too?” Several other agents concurred with her, to the point that it became a bit crowded.

By God, he had to admit it to himself: this was a lot of fun.

Time went on, and Jack ended up teaching most of the agents his technique (it took him a long time to figure out how to make it work with Winston, but he got it somehow). Afterwards, they became fiercely competitive with each other. Genji turned out to be an absolute champion; still, none of them could beat Jack. 

Hours passed, and the group hadn’t left the arcade, the rides long forgotten. The park would be closing soon; they had left relatively late in the afternoon. None of them seemed to expect to stay as long as they had. Oh God, he had let so much time get away from him.

“Hey! You cheated!” Hana said.

“Did not!” Lena retorted.

“Girls, behave! Don’t get us kicked out,” Jack said, more fondness in his tone than he wanted. Looking through the crowd, he caught Ana’s eye; she gave him an _I-told-you-so_ look.

Being the man of the hour could be okay sometimes.


	3. But He Persisted

As he sat on one of the chairs in the break room, Jack was feeling restless. With many of his leads on other aspects of Overwatch’s fall coming up short, he was getting the urge to chase down Gabriel again, even though he knew it was a bad decision. When he wasn’t occupied, it became much harder not to think about how much he missed him, and the suffering he was going through. Should he have really given up that part of his mission? Maybe his own death was worth--

These thoughts were interrupted by McCree placing a large box in front of him. “Huh?” Jack said.

“Went out and got you this,” he started, as Jack opened the box and inspected the contents. It was full of various tools, along with a large amount of wood. A hammer, nails, several screwdrivers of different sizes, a saw, and other tools meant for creating things. “Ana told me you like buildin’ stuff.”

It was true; there was something he always found satisfying about creating something yourself out of only basic tools. “There something you need me to make?”

McCree shook his head. “Nothin’ specific. Look, Morrison. Y’need a hobby. Tired of seein’ you sulk around here all day.” Despite his gruff words, a bit of concern was evident in McCree’s tone. Maybe he did care. Jack still wasn’t entirely used to having friends after being alone for so long. 

Jack picked up a hammer and inspected it; it was of a relatively high quality. He couldn't help but appreciate that. “I don’t wanna just do this instead of helping around the base.”

McCree sighed. “Work don’t count as a hobby, y’know.” The workaholic that he was, Jack wasn’t used to having time to do fun things. Neither running an international peacekeeping organization nor vigilante life really gave one much personal time. “Think of it like this. We can all use the stuff you build. It’s for all of us.” Jack considered that. He could try to build useful things. “I’ll help you out. Let’s go.” 

Without giving Jack any more chance to argue, McCree lifted him out of the chair by the arm. Jack decided to just go along with it, and picked up the box, following McCree into the hallway. McCree stared at him; he probably expected him to need help, but with his super soldier strength, it barely even felt heavy. 

They got to a room in the base that was out of the way, to the point that Jack hadn’t even been in it since he got here. It was empty save for a large desk and a somewhat obnoxiously bright overhead light.

After he thought about it a bit more, Jack realized he remembered this room. “This was one of Torbjorn’s old workshops. Before he got the nice and fancy one.” Jack smiled at the memory of a young Torbjorn, working in this small and archaic space. 

He heard McCree sneeze. “Dusty as all hell. Don’t think anyone’s been in here for 20 damn years.”

Jack laughed. “Longer than that. Flattered you think I’m that young, though.” 

McCree rolled his eyes. “Please, old man. You’re ancient.” 

“Back in my day, kids respected their elders,” Jack said, giving a melodramatic sigh. 

“Back in your day, there were dinosaurs,” he grunted. “Whaddaya wanna make first?”

Jack only had to ponder that for a moment before an idea came to him. “Y’know how there’s so much heavy equipment around here?” McCree nodded. “I could build a wagon. To help people carry stuff.” The other day, he had seen Hana trying to lift some of Winston’s lab equipment and nearly break all of it. It made him cringe. “Just need a frame, some wheels, and a handle. Shouldn’t be too hard.”

McCree nodded at him, a look of pride on his face. “Now you’re gettin’ it!”

Jack was already hatching up plans in his mind. It had to be perfect. Big enough to carry even the largest equipment, but light enough for even Hana or Lena to use comfortably. He might have to go out and buy some more materials. “I’m gonna kick this thing’s ass.” 

Jack quickly became obsessive over his new project. He planned out the design, then immediately went to work. It took days to meet his own extremely high standards. Anytime he wasn’t helping around the base or eating meals with the others, he was working away. He even made sure to organize the workshop a bit, setting down chairs to sit on and compartments to store tools in. Making it his own space. (‘I created a damn monster,’ McCree had said by the second day)

Finally, after tireless effort, his creation was finished. Wiping sweat off his brow, he admired the final product. Everything looked clean and finely tuned. He tested it out by putting every bit of heavy machinery he could find inside it and rolling it around the room. The wagon didn’t strain under the weight at all. The traction of the wheels was great, too. Perfect.

He couldn’t wait to show McCree. Rushing him to his workshop, he opened the door and beamed at the wagon.

McCree raised an eyebrow. “Damn, you made that all by yourself?” 

He nodded. “Hell yeah, I did.” 

“You gotta show everyone.”

Jack smiled at his new creation. He had really accomplished something, hadn’t he? This was the first time he’d really felt accomplished in years. “Thanks, Jesse.”

McCree shook his head. “Ain’t got me to thank. This was all your own doing.” 

That hit Jack hard. This was _his_ achievement. Something to be proud of himself for. A break in all of the self-loathing and shame he felt. 

The two of them called the rest of the base in. Jack showed them the wagon, then demonstrated the massive amount of weight it was able to carry. Everyone looked impressed, and Lena clapped for him. Jack felt his heart swelling in his chest. Being able to impress everyone like this...when was the last time anyone was proud of him, much less so many people at once? 

Jack smirked at the rest of the supplies of the workshop. This was only the beginning.

\--

The next day, Jack swept the floor in the long hallway in the east wing. There was something therapeutic to him about cleaning. It was a good time for him to clear his mind. It gave him a set goal without having to stress about it being particularly difficult or easy to mess up.

He was trying to process all that was happening. Even though they had taken him in, he still felt like a bit of an outsider at the base. It was his own fault, really; he didn’t go out of his way to talk to anyone. In fact, he more often went out of his way to _avoid_ talking to anyone.

Still, everything about this brought back feelings he didn’t want to address. He felt like these people deserved better than him. After he had failed them so thoroughly as a leader, did he really deserve their kindness? 

As he gathered up some of Winston’s shed hair from the sides of the hall, he noticed Mei walk in. He didn’t say anything, but wondered if he was in her way. The two of them hadn’t talked as much as he had to Lena, McCree, and Ana; not that he disliked her, but she was another person whose kindness he didn’t deserve. He had failed all of the scientists especially badly, including her. If he had only been better as a leader.

He was already starting to spiral when Mei said, “Mr. Morrison?” She sounded hesitant.

Jack cringed at the formality. It reminded him too much of being everyone’s boss, which was something he sure as hell didn’t want to repeat. “Yes?” He said, trying not to let on his discomfort.

“Do you…” She trailed off for a moment. “Want some help?” 

He stared at her. “Oh. Uh, sure,” he said. He hoped that she wasn’t intimidated by him. It would make sense, with how standoffish and irritable he had acted, but he didn’t want to be known as the asshole anymore. 

She smiled at him, then pulled out her own broom. Wow, she came prepared. Without saying anything else, she started to sweep the part of the hallway that Jack hadn’t yet gotten to. “I hope I’m not the one who dropped these crumbs on the floor,” she said.

Jack chuckled. “No, that was probably Jesse. That boy sure as hell can eat, and he doesn’t always clean up after himself.”

Mei giggled. She was cute. He wasn’t used to being surrounded by so much positivity, but it was a nice change of pace. Refreshing, in a way. 

After a few minutes of cleaning, Mei spoke up again. “I wanted to ask you about something,” she said, not looking in his direction.

He tried to look her in the eye, but she wouldn’t meet it. “Shoot.”

She looked down on the ground. “Do you blame yourself? For what happened to my friends?”

Jack froze. How the hell did she know? Hell, she wasn’t even supposed to know that he _knew_ what happened to them. Still, he didn’t want to lie to her. Not when she was being so vulnerable. “Yeah. I do. I failed all of you.” He looked away. “Sorry.”

She shook her head. “I don’t blame you. You don’t need to apologize.”

Jack stared at her, wide eyed. “You don’t?” How could she not?

She gave him a wistful smile. “No. You did all you could, and bad people took advantage of you.” Both of them had stopped sweeping at this point. “You always look kind of sad when I talk about science. I don’t want you to be sad. You’re a nice person.”

Jack had outright recoiled at this point, completely in shock. He frowned. “But it was my fault. I could’ve helped you.”

Suddenly, Mei dropped her broom. She started to come towards him. Before he had a chance to ask what she was doing, she pulled him into a hug. As she wrapped her arms around his back, Jack reciprocated. He was trying not to get too emotional, but he was near tears at this point. “It’s okay, Jack.” She patted him on the back. “It’s okay. I forgive you. We all do.”

Jack gripped her tightly. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He could feel himself shaking.

“Don’t be so mean to yourself,” she said. “I want you to be happy.”

He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t want to tell her that him being happy might never actually happen. But these moments were certainly a step in the right direction.

The two of them let go. “Look, you got me all choked up,” he said, laughing. “Thanks. Seriously.”

She gave him a big smile, and the two of them returned to cleaning without any further words about the topic. They didn’t need to say anything else.

Instead, they continued with only small talk, like wondering aloud how Winston shed this much hair and didn’t notice. As he watched her, he saw the hope she still had in her eyes, and the way she still laughed in such an earnest way at every joke Jack made. Even after everything that happened to her, she didn’t hate the world, or even the people who let her down. She had been hurt so badly, and that hadn’t stopped her desire to be kind. Even to someone like him. 

The crushing guilt got a little bit lighter that day.

\--

_Two weeks later_

Jack sat on the couch of the common area, trying not to fall asleep. It was becoming harder to stay up nowadays, and it made him feel like an old man.

The morning had been relatively uneventful. Just eating breakfast with the others, then doing some chores around the base (he wondered if he made as much of a mess when he was younger as these kids did. If he did, he felt sympathy for his mother), and working a bit on his new workshop project. At the moment, he was building a birdbath to put in the garden. He knew Zenyatta and Genji would especially enjoy that. Hopefully they could get some sparrows to spend time there. 

He looked at the clock. 1:12PM. It was probably time to get up; he wanted to spend the afternoon finding out more about Talon. The others didn’t seem to know anything that he hadn’t already heard, so it was up to him, he supposed. His progress had slowed greatly in recent days, and he felt that he had to act fast, because trouble was clearly brewing. Violent activity from Omnics had been increasing over the couple weeks, and Jack had a feeling Talon had at least something to do with it. 

It was his debt that he owed the world to help people with this threat. He had failed to stop it once. Never again.

Reluctantly, he got up from the couch and began to walk towards his room. On the way, he waved at Winston, who waved back, a big grin on his face. Jack never thought he’d be able to get along with Winston again, after everything. But it turned out he was a nice guy on the inside, even if he could be frustrating sometimes. Besides, him taking the Commander position meant nobody would ask Jack to do it. Thank fucking God.

Once he reached his room and sat down at his desk, he immediately got to work. He checked his holo pad for any new data, and saw that he had a notification. A message. His ID checker picked up some garbled characters and some town in Poland, which he was sure wasn’t where it was really from. Jack wondered what his mother would think of him interacting with such shady contacts.

The message contained only a video. Despite the massive security risk, he decided to click on it anyway. 

Someone he didn’t recognize was talking to Ogundimu. Even the sight of that man filled him with rage. God, he would do anything he could to strangle him right now.

The audio was a bit hard to make out, so he listened closely.

_“The explosion <static> done?” _

_“Yes. <static> Zurich is a go.” _

Jack immediately stopped the recording, as he stopped breathing for a moment. They were talking about the Swiss base. 

This topic always made him spiral into misery. Even thinking about it unlocked incredible amounts of guilt and trauma in him. He knew he had to watch it. Immediately, he took the orb off his table and grabbed onto it for support. Heat was beginning to emit off of it. 

Okay, do the affirmations. Like Zenyatta told you. 

_Wasn’t my fault. Couldn’t have known. No way I could’ve stopped it._

He felt himself breathing again, the rise and fall of his chest still rough, but at least there. 

_Did what I could. Not a failure. People forgive me._

Images began to broadcast in his head of the kindness the new Overwatch had shown him. Hugging him, meals where all of them laughed together, the moment he had with Mei in the hallway, and the times they had gone out of their way to invite him to activities were the thoughts that brought him the most relief. Thinking about the people that had taken him in was becoming the most effective strategy he had to help himself. With the help of these reassurances, his hands unclenched, and he managed to stop himself from crying.

Time to keep going. He put the orb down and turned his attention back to the recording.

_“Base <static>. Morrison <static> Reyes <static> likely dead.” _

That’s what they thought.

The recording stopped there. It didn’t tell him much. But his contact had to have sent him this for a reason.

He paused the video. As he looked at the scene, he realized something that made his blood run cold: he recognized this building.

It was a UN facility. 

So there had been involvement from them. He already had his suspicions, but he didn’t want to believe them. Jack continued to look at the person from all angles, but he still couldn’t tell who they were; their face and most of their body were blocked by darkness. Not only that, but he couldn’t remember exactly where this building was, only its function. He was pretty sure it was either in Asia or Europe, but that didn’t exactly narrow it down much.

He didn’t know who the person was, or how many others were involved. But this was a major lead. 

The contact labeled the file “NO RESPONSE.” Tch. Why was he not surprised?

It didn’t matter. He’d find out on his own. 

Frustration quickly set in as hours of tireless searching led to little further information that was actually helpful. From what he gathered, the person was definitely a UN official. Probably somebody that was relatively high ranking. But aside from that, he had no information on who he specifically was. There were no other ties to other UN members that he could find, either, past or present. Whoever this person was, they had covered their tracks damn well. 

As annoying as this was, the thrill of the mission began to hit him again. He loved having a duty to set his mind to, a moral victory to be won, and having a lead on it was absolutely invigorating to him. This task wasn't impossible. No matter how many people fought to keep him away from it.

Eventually, Ana knocked on the door to his room. "Dinner is ready," she said through the door. 

"Coming!" Jack said, quickly putting away his research materials. He sure as hell wasn't going to miss a meal with the others. Obviously just because he was hungry, and not because he liked spending time with them that much. Clearly. 

He could put this down for a moment. He knew the motivation would still be there when he came back.

This was the closest he’d come to a breakthrough in years, after all.


	4. Going Up, Crashing Down

Jack continued his search for the person from the video. He’d been at a dead end for days now. For now, all he had to go off of was a list of people who had been in the UN at the time. With so few leads, that left him with basically the entire UN as suspects. 

Who would want him and Gabriel dead? And why? 

He had several theories. Some kind of power play, maybe. Or for money. Every asshole wanted money, right?

Of course, there were plenty of people that hated Overwatch at the time. Focusing on a motive wouldn’t provide him any leads, either; not when there were such a massive number of people that wanted him gone, including many UN members. But who would partner with terrorists to do it?

Jack buried his head in his hands. He was getting nowhere. He started to wonder if he should leave the base permanently, because there had to be more information out there. This was driving him insane. But that would mean letting go of the friendships he’d made, and he wasn’t sure if he could do it.

A knock on the door distracted him from spiraling. Probably for the best. He opened the door and saw Lena, who was looking down at the ground, a far contrast from her usual confident and chipper stance. 

“Did you need something?” He asked.

She looked away. “Sorry to bother you, love, but…I want to talk to you about something.”

Jack stared at her for a moment, wondering if he was in some kind of trouble. Maybe he would finally get confronted for his unpleasant demeanor after all. “Sure. Come in,” he said, ignoring his misgivings.

Lena nodded; after she came in, Jack made sure to close the door behind her.

She didn’t say anything for a moment, only staring out the window. There wasn’t anything in particular to see out there; it was mostly just grass. Jack wondered if he was the only one feeling awkward. “Sorry it’s kind of a mess in here,” Jack said, noticing just now that his papers were scattered around the room. To anyone else, it would look like he was just a slob, but everything was just placed where he would have the easiest access to it. He hoped Lena wouldn’t snoop in any of his documents; he didn’t have nearly as many secrets to hide nowadays, but it still made him nervous.

Lena shook her head. Then, without looking in his direction, she started talking. “I know you might not like me that much” -- Guilt hit Jack at the idea that he’d given her that impression “--But I thought you might get this more than anyone else.” Huh? Well, as confused as he was, Jack was pretty sure he wasn’t in trouble now. That was a relief. She turned her head and looked him straight in the eye, a deep frown on her face. “How do you deal with it? Feeling like you could’ve saved people, but didn’t?” Jack froze, trying not to dig too deep into his own trauma. “I saw some people on TV mourning Mondatta today, and I just feel so rotten about it.” He felt a pang of sympathy as he noticed her tearing up.

Jack gave her as empathetic of a look as he could. He sighed. “Wish I could say the feeling just goes away, but it doesn’t.” He tried to smile, but it didn’t work. “All you can do is keep fighting for the ones you can still save.” It wasn’t that easy, and he knew it. But it was the best approach he had. He had seen himself in Lena many times, and this streak of blaming herself was no exception. The idea of her ending up in as dark of a place as him was terrifying.

She had started to cry now; Jack suspected she’d been bottling this up for a while. Another all too familiar trait, really. “I feel so bad. The world is so much worse off without him, and it’s my fault. What good am I?”

Jack leaned down, putting his hands on her shoulders. He looked her directly in her eyes; the hurt in them a stark reminder of how hard fighting for good really was, especially for the younger ones. “Listen to me. Maybe you can’t save everyone. But you’re pretty damn cool, you know that?” She looked at him and wiped her eyes, looking slightly confused. “You’re so positive. Still believe in the world after everything. Wish I was that strong.” He gave her a wistful smile. “You’re a hero, and you’ve saved lives. Don’t ever let anyone tell you different, you got that?” 

Slowly, she nodded, leaning into his hold. He decided that if he was being comforting, he might as well go all the way, so he hugged her. She clung tightly to his back, burying her head in his shoulder. “Thank you,” she said, muffled by his shirt.

He patted her on the back. “You’re welcome, kid. You're gonna keep kicking the bad guys' asses, right?"

She nodded, letting go. She smiled at him, just as bright as ever. “You know, you always talk like you’re such a mean guy, but I don’t think you are. You’re more like…” She put her hand on her chin. “A grumpy dad. I know you care.”

Jack chuckled, trying to brush off the joy he got out of not being perceived as a bad person. “You just haven’t gotten on my bad side yet.” 

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll watch out for that.” The two of them laughed. It was impressive how quickly she got back to her cheerful self. It must take so much strength to be able to bounce back so easily. “Thanks, though,” she said, smiling. “Glad you’re here with us.”

All of this just gave him the urge to protect her with everything he had. One of the only pure souls in this shit world.

He rubbed the top of her head. “Glad to be here. Maybe I’ll stick around.”

And this time, he meant it.

\--

Life went on at the base. Another week passed, and the people at the base were becoming just as familiar to him as they used to be. They became a daily fixture in his life again. After so much time spent alone, it took some getting used to, but having some company was...nice. 

A lot of them had more energy than he was able to keep up with nowadays. But they all seemed to not be too bothered by that. He was almost always included in activities on base, including social ones. Lena had even taken to calling him ‘Dad’; he pretended to not like the nickname, but he actually found it really sweet. When a large group of agents went out to a breakfast buffet, he was shocked to receive an invitation. Secretly, he had always wanted to go to these types of activities, but thought of himself as too stuck-up and unpleasant to be around. 

One morning, he walked through the base and couldn’t find anyone. Panic immediately set in - what if there had been an attack while he was sleeping? Would they really leave only him? He tried to reassure himself that he was only being paranoid, but not being on-guard hadn’t done him too well in the past.

However, he found out where everyone was when he went into the kitchen.

“Happy birthday, Jack!”

He stared at all of them, trying not to recoil. Everyone on base was there. A cake was on the table, in the shape of a blue and white “76”. 

He hadn’t even recalled his own birthday in years.

“You guys...remembered my birthday?” He said, as if this were a dream. There was no way everyone really went out of their way to do this for _him_ of all people, right? When he hadn’t even asked them to?

Lena looked at him with a big smile on her face. The kind of joy that warmed Jack’s heart. “Of course we did! We celebrated it all the time back in the day, remember?”

Jack stared at them, trying to mask the shock in his features. “I didn’t think you guys liked me. Like you thought I was an asshole.” Although he was fairly sure at this point that Lena liked him, he had no idea about the others. Even before Overwatch fell, Jack got the sense that a lot of the members didn’t respect him that much. He wondered if they thought he was a stick-in-the-mud, or they were bitter towards him for the things other Overwatch officials had done. And afterwards? Well, he was Soldier 76, the bitter, grumpy, mean old man. Of course people wouldn’t like him. Or so he thought.

Lena looked bewildered. “Of course not. You’re the team dad. Why wouldn’t we like you?”

McCree chuckled and shook his head. “Just ‘cause you can be a lil’ rough around the edges don’t mean we don’t like bein’ around you.”

Jack tried to take in everything in front of him. The others didn’t even seem to think of this as an incredible gesture; like it was obvious that they were close enough to do this. 

Hana elbowed Lena and whispered something in her ear. “Oh, yeah!” She said, perking up. In a flash (like everything else she did), she ran off into the room behind them. She returned, hiding something behind her back. 

“We got you a present!” She moved to the side, revealing a set of golf clubs. The bag was his signature shade of blue, with a “76” on the front. She took out a club; each one was painted the same colors as his jacket. 

Jack stared at his present, mesmerized. How long had this taken to paint? “For me?” Lena nodded. Jack gave a small laugh. “Thanks, guys. You made this old man really happy.” He picked up one of the clubs, giving it a mock swing. “I can teach you kids how to play.” 

Lena laughed nervously. “I’ll pass on that one, Dad.”

Jack put his hand on her shoulder. “Aw, c’mon. Bet you’d be a natural. You too, Hana.”

“What did we get ourselves into?” Hana said. 

As everyone in the room laughed, Jack tried to internalize that this was what it felt like to be cared for. Such a foreign feeling, after being alone for so long, exposed to so much constant anger and hatred.

It came time to cut the cake; they made sure to give Jack the first piece, and he may have taken a bit more than he should have. He couldn’t help it. There was a certain childish excitement that always struck him every time he saw a birthday cake for him. 

After talking a bit more with the others, Jack sat down at one of the tables in the common area. He took a bite of the cake, feeling the spongy chocolate interior. Fucking delicious. Only one person knew about his weakness for chocolate...

“Did you set this up?” Jack asked Ana, who sat next to him. 

Ana smiled at him. “I wanted to show you that you’re a part of this family, so I told Lena to get you a cake for your birthday. Looks like she went the extra mile,” she said, chuckling. 

_Family._ Something Jack hadn’t had in a long time. As he bit into the part of the “7” he had taken from the cake, he wondered how he got here. He didn’t deserve the kindness these people had extended to him. Yet, they were willing to anyway.

Was the world really so bad?

\--

Meanwhile, in a safe house in a much less populated area, Gabriel was pacing around the room, as if that would somehow allow him to shake off the guilt following him around. 

He told himself that it was for his mission. Jack had been getting dangerously close to figuring out his infiltration plan. Nobody could know what he was doing, not even Jack; taking Talon down from the inside would be impossible if he were caught by anyone. He had to find a way to get Jack off his back for as long as possible, and physical injury clearly wasn’t enough.

He picked up his holo pad and started looking through its files. Just to have some kind of distraction. Sombra hadn’t sent him anything today, which was a shame; she always had the most interesting information. He found himself unable to pay full attention to what was on the screen. All he could think about was what he did to Jack. 

It was just to keep him away, he thought. Not only that, but hurting Jack that badly would advance his image even further. The old Gabriel would never do something like that. It perfectly fit the persona he put on of a monster fueled by hatred. 

But the look in Jack’s eyes, and seeing him cry on the ground like that? It was enough to eat him up inside. 

God, he was weak. These emotions were useless, and just jeopardizing his mission. He knew that mulling over this constantly was an unhelpful distraction. 

Maybe Jack would hate him forever now. He really hoped Jack would find it in his heart to forgive him. It was selfish of him to expect him to after putting him through all of this pain, but if he could just explain himself someday, maybe Jack would understand.

At the moment, he was fighting the temptation to check on Jack. It was odd that he hadn’t seen any trace of him on his tail in so long. Had he gotten hurt? Or had Gabriel’s tactic really worked?

He knew he shouldn't be worried about Jack, who could probably handle himself. But a part of him felt that Jack was still his responsibility...oh, and maybe just a little bit of his morality sneaking through. Or whatever the hell was left of it.

Eventually, it became too much. Just slip in as a wraith, slip out. It wouldn’t be hard to go unnoticed. 

Against his better judgment, he decided to go for it. He wasn’t too far away from the Overwatch base, which he assumed Jack was still staying at. This just made him wonder further if Jack had gotten hurt, and if he was recovering here.

He shook his head. No use being paranoid. When he got within a mile of the base, he turned into wraith form, then slipped towards his target. It was always faster than walking, and kept people from pestering him.

In a relatively short amount of time, he was near the window of the base closest to the door. The sun had already set, so activities on the base would likely be winding down. He hoped Jack didn’t go to bed already.

He decided to go inside. Hopefully Athena wouldn’t identify his presence. One of the windows was open a crack; he took advantage of this and slipped in through the small space. So far, so good. 

Luckily, he still knew the layout of the base fairly well, and it hadn’t changed much since the old days. He found the air vent and went inside. 

After going through the base for a few moments, he heard a small amount of commotion from the common area. They must be eating dinner. Wasting no time, he worked his way towards that room, and was there within seconds.

Looking down through the gaps in the grate, he saw many familiar faces. Not important right now. He continued to search until he found his objective: Jack. 

He couldn’t fully make out their conversation from the ceiling, but Jack looked...happy. He was participating in the conversation in earnest, laughing along with the others, and cracking more smiles than he’d seen him do in years. 

This was not what he expected at all. He thought Jack would still be miserable. But he looked as happy as he did before Overwatch fell. At that moment, he realized something.

Maybe the reason he hadn’t seen Jack chasing him around was because Jack didn’t care anymore.

He told himself that he was probably just being paranoid. But seeing Jack’s face light up every time he laughed at somebody’s joke made him wonder... _Does he need me anymore?_

This was what he wanted, right? For Jack to stop following him. Jack moving on with his life would be a good thing. It would keep him off his back, and make sure his mission was successful. Not only that, but it would make it more likely for Jack to not get hurt. And Jack being happy was a positive thing. 

So why did it feel so _wrong?_

He should be happy about this. It was the safest possible outcome for both of them. And he thought his feelings for Jack weren’t the same as they used to be. 

But the thought of living the rest of his life without Jack, and Jack being perfectly fine without him, was a horrifying one to him, and he couldn’t quite place why. Did he still need Jack that much? Had he taken Jack’s interest in him for granted?

He had sacrificed so much for this plan. Why couldn’t he let go of this, too? 

Looking down again, he saw the agents start to get up. Jack said something to Ana, then walked towards a floating Omnic - was that one of the Shambali? 

While the two spoke, Gabriel noticed the tension leave Jack’s shoulders. These people were a _comfort_ to him, weren’t they? They provided him with positive feelings, while all Gabriel had done for years was give Jack negative ones. Something about that made him feel like a terrible person.

All he could do was stare as they continued their discussion. He desperately wished that he could hear their conversation. Anything to get more insight into what had changed for Jack. 

As he watched the others have fun, all alone in the air vent, he could only think one thought: if he didn’t act soon, he’d be left behind.


	5. Investigation

One day, Jack got an unusual breakthrough in his search for answers. While hopelessly searching through news articles once again, he received a message, only listed as from an ‘Unknown Sender’. He was sure this message would end up giving him some kind of spyware, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he clicked on it.

The message was very short, just one sentence: ‘ _check omnic attacks in western US’._

Jack cocked his head to the side. He had no idea how that would help him. But if this was a trap, it was one that was certainly beyond his comprehension. With his frustrating lack of leads in recent days, Jack decided to indulge his curiosity.

That was what led him to how he’d spent most of his afternoon. It turned out, there was an entire conflict in the US that had completely slipped past him. It wasn’t related to Gabriel, though (as far as he knew), so he wouldn’t have been interested in it for the past few years. In fact, he wasn’t sure how it was relevant to his mission at all. But the person wouldn’t just send this message for no reason. Unless they were trying to get him off the trail of something else, but he hadn’t been getting anywhere for days.

Shaking off those thoughts, Jack continued to search. In the past few years, there had been a rise in Omnics attacking humans throughout the country, but especially in parts of California, Oregon, and Washington, extending from the coast all the way to the eastern edges of those states.

In the wake of the uprisings going on worldwide, Omnic attacks were naturally higher everywhere. But the rate in these states was vastly higher than elsewhere in the world. Their activity massively spiked about 5 years ago, and had remained mostly consistent since.

5 years ago.

When the base exploded.

There had to be a connection here. The obvious answer was that the lack of the stabilizing force of Overwatch led to problems increasing. But that wouldn’t explain why it happened so suddenly; the attack rates elsewhere increased slowly over time, as discontent spread further. But in this region, they nearly quadrupled almost overnight. 

Jack decided that it’d be helpful to look through some of the more ‘underground’ parts of the network. Hey, he was getting good at this whole ‘cyberstealth’ thing. Sombra would be proud. Actually, she probably would just make fun of him.

Unfortunately, it didn’t get him much more information. That is, until he found a flyer online, reposted on a site used for gang activity. 

_Dear Omnics of the United States of America,_

_Do you seek freedom from the hateful treatment of our human overlords? Do you appreciate the possibility of being treated with respect? Or at the very least, are you interested in learning more about Human-Omnic history?_

_Come to our meeting at 10394 23rd Street in Seattle on March 2nd to learn about your rights. We take Omnics of any size and model, including those that have been disabled by human harassment._

_We also offer free housing to homeless Omnics. If this applies to you, we will be happy to accommodate you._

_Thank you for your attention, and we hope to see you there!_

_\- Technological Fairness Division_

It was a classic technique that Jack had learned from so much exposure to slimy politicians. You take people who are desperate and need help, offer them something that will get them to your space, then indoctrinate them. It disgusted Jack to the core every time he saw it, and this was no exception.

But the so-called ‘Technological Fairness Division’ was something even he had never heard of. It must have risen up recently, if it wasn’t on Overwatch’s radar when he was Commander. The flyer was dated February 19, 2072. Not too long after Overwatch fell. These were clearly opportunists.

While all of this information would be very helpful to Overwatch itself, he wasn’t sure how it contributed to his personal mission. Maybe it was just sent to him by chance, and it was meant for Overwatch in general? But then why had the sender been so shady?

He looked further into this organization. There was barely anything on the main network, with only the name mentioned on a few watchlists, so he was left to his deeper searching yet again. 

Even there, though, there wasn’t much to go by. They must keep most of their information physical; probably a better idea in this day and age. He did find a few propaganda pieces directly from them, all of which were mostly bullshit. Pretty words to appeal to people that had no other options or make themselves look as non-threatening as possible. It reminded him far too much of his time spent working with PR. 

He did have that address, though. If he was going to go down this rabbit hole, he was taking it all the way. Not only that, but this time, he might have some more friends to back him up.

Quickly, he got up from his chair with his holo pad in hand, his legs a bit stiff from sitting for so long. He raced down to the common area. Winston and Lena were both there.

As soon as Jack got into the room, he blurted out, “Winston. I need to show you this.” Winston stared at him for a moment, but came over anyway; Lena followed. Jack pulled up the flyer. “Read this.” Winston adjusted his glasses, then leaned over towards Jack’s holo pad, with Lena looking over his shoulder. After a few moments, he looked back up at Jack, an eyebrow raised. “We need to check this out. Can you get me to Seattle?”

Lena looked back at him. “Sure. But you can’t go alone, love. You could get hurt,” she said.

Oh no. Absolutely not. “I don’t want to put you in danger.”

Winston put his massive hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Jack, we’re a team now, remember? We’ll keep each other safe. We’re all strong, right?” Lena smiled at him, nodding.

As hesitant as he was, Jack tried to trust his friends. They had come this far together, and proven themselves to be strong already. Involving them in one part of his mission might not be too big of a risk. 

As they both stared at him, he eventually gave in. He grinned. “You guys ready for some detective work?”

“Definitely!” Lena said. “Let’s go get the others.”

As the three of them made their plans, none of them noticed the trail of black smoke slipping out the window.

\--

**_Seattle, Washington_ **

A mutual decision had been made that only Jack, Ana, Lena, and Genji would go on this mission. They had to maintain some semblance of stealth, and that wouldn’t exactly be possible with a talking gorilla or 7 foot tall German with them. 

The streets of Seattle were active, with many people passing by. Jack elected not to put on his mask until they got to their destination; calling attention to a wanted vigilante being here wouldn’t be the best idea. Still, the city streets made him nervous; he didn’t function well with too many people surrounding him nowadays. That was probably something to talk to a shrink about. Maybe someday.

It didn’t take them long to find the building. It was certainly inconspicuous, which Jack was sure was intentional. A small grey building with no notable features on the outside would be good for not arousing too much suspicion from locals. For Jack, though, it only made him more certain that this place was shady. Well, they were certainly in the right place.

“There’ll definitely be cameras,” Jack said, as they stood slightly away from the door. There were no visible bodyguards on the outside, which meant that the security must be internal.

“I will sneak in and disable them,” Genji said. All three of them nodded. It really did come in handy to have a ninja on your team.

Lena looked to both sides. “You think anyone will come by?” She asked.

Jack nodded to Ana, who was already setting herself up under a nearby tree. “Ana’s one hell of a lookout, and she can send messages right to my holo pad.” 

Ana hummed. “Yes, he’s certainly improved at planning from when we were young.”

As much as he’d like to keep up the teasing, he had work to do. By the time he looked back, Genji had already slipped away, presumably into the building. Damn, his talent for disappearing impressed Jack every time. He wished he could do that.

“Once we get in there, we’ll only have a few minutes, because we can’t afford to get caught,” Jack said to Lena. “If they know we’re onto them, they’ll retaliate.” Jack cringed at the thought of putting the others in danger with his snooping.

“Aye aye,” Lena said, saluting.

Jack felt uncomfortable loitering here; luckily, it only took a few moments for a message from Genji to show up. “ _It is done. Go through the side window; it is unlocked. Be sure to be quiet.”_

Jack put his mask on and nodded to Lena. Both of them rushed to the window. Luckily, it was large enough to fit Jack, albeit uncomfortably. As delicately as he could, he opened it and climbed in; it was a tough squeeze, but he made it without crushing himself too badly. As he got through the window, he pulled Lena inside as well, who was much easier to get through. That kid was tiny.

The room they ended up in was small, containing only a desk, with a single drawer attached. Well, they were off to a good start. Without a word, Jack crept towards the desk, opening the drawer.

It was full of papers, with a tab at the very end, separating a single sheet from the others. This could be a jackpot. There was no way he’d be able to get through all of them, but any of them would certainly have some kind of help.

He looked at the first file. It was a single piece of paper, with text throughout most of it and an image of an Omnic holding up a blue flag at the bottom. The Omnic looked similar to the Omnic butlers he had seen, but stood on two legs. The flag had the shape of a light bulb in the middle of it.

Jack looked at the text.

_Dear attendees,_

_If you are reading this, congratulations! You have taken your first step to unlocking your freedom. At this meeting, you will learn the long history of conflict between humans and Omnics, be told how you can stop their attacks upon us, and given the chance to join our noble cause._

_You may wonder, who are we? Well, we are an organization of freedom fighters that seek to unlock equality for Omnics. The humans have done far too much damage to us, such as the killing of Mondatta and the attacks at King’s Row and in Paris._ Jack cringed at the thought of his own command being used as a motivator by this group.

 _Although we have done everything we could to solve this diplomatically, it is clear that the humans will never respect us without a show of force. Therefore, we must use covert tactics. Not to worry, though; we seek to eliminate as few human lives as possible._ Bullshit.

_All we ask is that you join us to create a better world. An equal world. One that will be better for both humans and Omnics at the end._

_Signed, Conway Harper, President of Technological Fairness Division_

That name. He needed to remember it. He put it down in his holo pad. Hey, his memory might be going with age. He could never be too careful.

Unfortunately, the rest of the files behind the tab were the same flyer. So this wasn’t as much of a jackpot as he thought. He decided to look on the other side of the tab. It only contained a simple piece of printer paper. 

_MEMO_

_Secretary Chalmers, I need you to deposit my donation, as Mr. Harper is away. Enclosed is a file containing security codes that will allow you access to my account._ Jack looked inside, but was disappointed to find that there was no other document; the codes must have been taken elsewhere. 

_Pleasure doing business with you._

_\- Offices of Andrew Rotem_

Andrew Rotem. Another name to enter into his holo pad. 

After he wrote the name, the device lit up. It was a text from Genji.

_Somebody is coming. I have re-enabled the security cameras in all rooms except the one you are in, and I am waiting outside. You should leave quietly through the window, without saying a word._

Pfft. As if he didn’t already know how stealth missions worked. Was he really so reckless that people would assume he wouldn’t leave now? (He couldn’t deny the temptation was there, but for the sake of the others, he kept it down).

He motioned towards Lena, who nodded. The two exited the building. They met up with Ana and Genji, and as far as Jack knew, managed to get away without being caught. 

**_Back at base_ **

Once they returned to base, Jack immediately ran to his room to begin his research, not even greeting anyone. This was urgent. Politeness could wait.

He hadn’t told anyone about the names he unearthed, just that the group was indoctrinating Omnics at meetings. As much as he attempted to trust his friends, involving them in the deeper parts of his mission was just asking for them to get hurt. Not only that, but these were his mistakes to correct. No need to rope them into his grief.

As soon as he entered the room, he raced to his desk, pulling out the holo pad. 

Time to get to work.

He didn’t even bother looking up the names on the main internet database. These kinds of figures wouldn’t have any useful information on ‘legitimate’ servers. At best, they’d have panicked news articles about some kind of attacks they’d committed.

Might as well start with the Omnic. He was probably the main focus here. He searched the name ‘Conway Harper’ in the underground database.

1,500 results. Bingo.

The first one contained a picture. He was a tall, lanky Omnic, in a simple gray color. The glow in his eyes struck Jack immediately - two eyeholes lit up a shining gold, the kind that would command attention from anyone. Tch. These movements always needed a pretty face. He knew that from experience. 

The ways his eyes drew a viewer in was helpful, because they were the only feature of his that was different from your average Omnic. The only differences Jack noticed were how long his limbs were, arms extending far past his torso and legs that were easily over half his height, and the blue vest he wore. It had the same logo on it that he’d seen on the poster.

His description was relatively short, only two paragraphs. Jack was certain that if they had any information the Omnic found unacceptable, it’d be quickly taken down.

_Conway Harper is an Omnic rights activist. He has a long history of advocacy, dating back decades. It is not entirely certain when he became active, but he has been known to shelter and feed homeless and injured Omnics, as well as helping fund and build the United Mechanical Hospital, the first center for emergency medicine on Omnics specifically, located in Tacoma, Washington._

_Recently, Harper has attracted some controversy for his increasingly radical statements about human supremacy. He has been quoted as saying that human society is ‘inherently oppressive and destructive’, and that ‘someone has to intervene before things become even worse.’ Some have accused him of orchestrating attacks on humans, and he is on the FBI watchlist._

At the bottom of the page, there was a short video of him speaking. Let’s see what this guy’s got.

In the video, he stood on a small stage at a podium, in front of people; Jack couldn’t tell how many there were, but it was a significant presence. Jack noticed the moment he clicked on the video that this Omnic knew very well how to function in front of a crowd. His stance was confident, yet collected. 

Jack watched as he began to speak. 

_“Hello, everyone. I am Conway Harper. I will not lie to you; the world is in a state that I believe is unacceptable, and I believe those of you here are the only ones capable of saving it.”_

Instantly, Jack knew Conway was skilled as an orator. He spoke with a measured tone, but also a booming voice. Staying relatively calm, but communicating emotion and investment in what he was saying. Jack had plenty of experience with people who could make things sound pretty in front of a crowd, and he knew very well just how powerful that was. It was a way to convince anyone of anything.

 _“The current structure of society always has a group being subservient. Whether that be Omnics, people of different races, the poor, or any other segment of the population, it seems to be common among all forms of human society to have someone be demonized and treated as lesser.”_ He stepped slightly away from his podium, putting his arms behind his back. _“Perhaps this is human nature. Natural or not, it must be fought; to accept this structure is to contribute to the oppression of millions. The only solution is to fight for your rights, and refuse to be ignored, before it becomes too late.”_

If Jack were a bit more weak-willed, he knew he’d be mesmerized by the way he spoke. Everything, all the way down to the motions of his hands, was tailor made to appeal to people. He even used one of Jack’s techniques - taking a deep breath (or at least, the Omnic equivalent), to communicate the idea of collecting himself after a dramatic moment. Oh, he was good.

The video ended there, without showing the entire speech. Jack got the idea. It made perfect sense that people would follow his ideals. Get something that sounds appealing on paper and put in the mouth of a guy like this, and you win over people. 

The second result was more recent. He clicked on it. Only a few days old.

It was a page on some rallies Conway had been holding. He scoffed. No need to hear any more of that propaganda. Not much about it caught his eye, until what he saw in the middle of the page: a schedule of when his speeches occurred. According to the calendar, there was one tomorrow afternoon in Baltimore. 

Well, he might just have to check that out.

He noticed a stiffness in his joints. He was getting too old to sit here for so long. Might as well see if the others were having dinner, too. To relieve some of the tension, he got up and stretched; while arching his back, he saw something that made him do a double take: a small wisp of black smoke.

Gabriel.

He didn’t say anything at first, trying to compose himself. He had been waiting for a long time to face this. That didn’t make it any less terrifying. All of his recovery had been leading up to this moment. _Come on, Jack. You can do this._

It felt as if time passed by much more quickly than usual. Who knew how long he would have until Gabriel tried to leave? He wanted to stall for time. Anything to give him more of a chance to think. But that wasn’t possible, and he knew it.

After a moment, the smoke started to make its way towards the air vent. Probably didn’t notice Jack looking at him. 

“So, where are you going?” Jack asked.

\--

Shit. Gabriel had gotten sloppy. Being so obvious...he had let his feelings distract him again. God damn it. 

As tempted as he was to just run away, that would certainly not make Jack think more positively of him.

He was here to try to make things right. It took him a little while to build up the courage and actually say something, but being a coward was never going to help him. Even if he couldn’t be with Jack the same way again, the feeling of Jack moving on completely without him made him sick to his stomach. Each reminder of it felt terrible.

Admitting he was wrong was not his forte. Hell, did he even think he was wrong?

At the very least, it would appear to Jack as if he was, because he still had no intention of telling him about the infiltration. That could ruin his entire plan, or put Jack in danger. He knew that the second Jack found out, he’d want to be in on it somehow, and that wasn’t safe. To Jack, he displayed only the image of a cruel person bent on revenge. Jack had never been very good at reading people, either, so he doubted he could see through his ruse.

Fine.

Slowly, Gabriel reformed, still in the Reaper getup. He knew his facial expressions could give away when he wasn’t telling the whole truth.

Looking over at Jack, he tried not to stiffen too much. He noticed that Jack stood much more upright than he had in the past few years; no longer did he constantly slouch. Instead, he kept his head held high, the way he had before Overwatch fell.

“Hey,” Gabriel said, trying to ignore the awkwardness. Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Gabriel cut him off. Just to make sure Jack wouldn’t ask any questions Gabriel hadn’t accounted for. Even situations like these were carefully planned for him. “I’m here to tell you something.” He tried not to turn his head away from Jack, no matter how difficult it was. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and now I get that I shouldn’t have hurt you the way I did.” He cringed at the admittance.

Jack raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. “And?”

Huh? “And what?”

“The words. ‘I’m sorry’. Say it,” Jack said, looking straight into the eyes of the mask.

That was...not his favorite word. He’d really like to avoid saying it. More than anything. “I already told you I shouldn’t have hurt you. What else do you want?”

Jack’s gaze didn’t change. “I want a real apology.”

Gabriel glared at him, although he knew Jack couldn’t see it. “We both did things we regret. Don’t act innocent here.”

Jack’s look turned into something resembling a glare, as well; however, it looked more cold than angry. “I already said I was sorry. You didn’t. Why are the rules different for me than you?”

“Well, they’re--” Gabriel started.

Jack stepped away from the wall and closer to Gabriel. “Not done. Did you think I would just grovel at your feet ‘cause you said it might have been kinda sorta bad to shoot me and break my heart after you said you loved me?”

How could he question that? “Jack, you know I loved--”

Jack took another step towards him and cut him off again. “Did you think I’d just drop my friends and my life to run off with you now?” Gabriel could only look on in shock as Jack got right in his face, staring him down. This was the first time in a very long time -- possibly ever -- that he felt genuinely intimidated by him. “Did you think I’d just keep letting you step on me again and again forever?” Just as Gabriel was about to look away (anything to avoid that damn glare of his, the one that felt like it was burning into him), he backed up a bit. “Tell me something. You still in Talon?”

Gabriel didn’t like where this was going. Still, if he lied now, he’d certainly get caught. “Well, yeah.” Trying to defend himself before Jack could comment, he said, “But my plans there are important. I need to do something.” A part of him was telling him to let Jack in on the infiltration, but he did his best to ignore it.

Jack gave a bitter chuckle. “Figures.” Fuck, wrong answer. “Why should I even give you a chance?”

Gabriel hesitated. “Because I still care about you.” God, that admission took everything he had, and probably would just confuse Jack.

Instead of the shocked reaction he expected, Jack just sighed. “Here’s my terms. Leave Talon, and say you’re sorry. Until then, it doesn’t matter how much you care.”

He couldn’t pretend that one didn’t hurt. “Jack…” He said, sounding much more vulnerable than he wanted.

Jack shook his head. “You gotta make a choice. Are you Gabriel or Reaper? If you’re Gabe, I’ll always give you a chance. But if you’re Reaper, I’m never letting you hurt me again.” Gabriel searched for any hesitation in Jack’s voice, but he sounded more sure of himself than ever.

He was starting to get pissed off now. How could Jack think of himself as such a victim? “So you’re just gonna throw away everything we had?”

Jack glared at him, stance unwavering. “You heard what I said. Choose. Talon or me. Think about it.” Without giving him a chance to respond, Jack walked out of the room and closed the door.

“Jack!” 

\--

**_Baltimore, Maryland_ **

As Jack made his way through the streets of the city, he felt the hair on the back of his neck standing up. He didn’t like being here alone, but it was better this way. He hadn’t told the others where he was going, still believing that they’d be safer without getting involved in this part of his mission. Still, having some backup would’ve been nice. Maybe that was a mistake. Oh well. He was already here now.

He tried to ignore the thoughts about Gabriel. If that asshole thought he could just waltz back into his life with some half-assed non-apology, he was going to be disappointed. 

Still, he missed him. He never stopped missing him. But his life was better without being constantly hurt, and that was all Gabriel had done to him for years. So, if Gabriel wasn’t going to give Jack enough respect to show genuine regret for what he’d done, Jack wouldn’t give him the time of day. It would be hard. But he knew he’d be better off in the end.

While distracted with his own relationship drama, he realized that he had walked into a part of the city that he didn’t recognize. Damn east coasters. It would be so much easier to navigate Midwestern fields.

At least it wasn’t nighttime. This city got nasty at night, and he certainly had enough fights with thugs in his life. He didn’t need any more. There was nobody around; he assumed most of them were either attracted by the rally or at work.

He heard a strange rustling coming from a nearby alley. It didn’t sound human, but not really Omnic, either. Like some kind of low, constant clink. What the hell was that?

He got his answer more quickly than he would’ve liked. A machine came out of the alley. It was some kind of mechanical creature, bright silver and in the shape of a giant spider. It was about half Jack’s size. Jack never liked spiders. Whatever this thing was, he doubted that it was friendly.

His suspicions were confirmed very quickly: the machine leapt at him. He picked up his rifle and shot it; it went down almost immediately. 

“That the best you got?” He said aloud.

When he looked up, he realized that many more of the machines had crawled in from various locations. There had to be hundreds of them.

He just _had_ to ask.

Without warning, they all started to race towards him. Shit. Some were behind him, too, so he didn’t have an easy escape route. How had he fallen into this stupid trap? Was he really so reckless?

He shot a helix rocket in front of him, destroying several spiders. He kept shooting; individuals were relatively easy to take down, but it felt like no matter how many he destroyed, there were always more. They were starting to close in, too.

Suddenly, one hit him from behind, throwing off his balance. A second one smacked into the back of his leg, scraping the back of it with its claw. This caused him to fall over, losing grip of his rifle. One of the other spiders kicked it out of the way. 

There were dozens surrounding him, their claws all sharpened to a dangerous tip. There were several parts of his body that could be severely damaged by that. Enough attacks on the right parts would be fatal, and he had a bad feeling these things knew where to hit.

He tried to get up, but there were multiple of them covering his legs; he fought back with his fists as well as he could, but didn’t seem to make any progress. One clambered up towards him, lifting one of its legs at his neck, with several others behind it, likely ready to do the same.

Was this the end? What a stupid fucking way to die.

Then, he heard a gunshot, and the spider directly above him launched into the distance. What the hell?

The area directly above him was quickly cleared, and he was able to get up. But how?

Looking to his side, he saw Gabriel.

Whatever words they’d have to exchange about this weren’t important right now. The thrill of the fight came first, just like it always did with them. Some things never change. Jack picked up his now available rifle and lifted it, nodding at Gabriel, who nodded back.

The two got to work destroying the machines. Fighting side by side with Gabriel again felt incredible. They worked so well together. Several times, they blasted machines off each other. Saving each other from harm. It felt so natural, so familiar.

It didn’t take much time for the onslaught to stop. Hundreds of destroyed machine shells lay around them, smoke coming out of many of them. Well, Jack sure as hell didn’t envy whoever had to clean this up.

Jack leaned down and put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Although he wondered if Gabriel was going to already be gone, he looked over, and his former friend was still there, also breathing hard.

Jack inspected himself for wounds. There was a gash on his leg and a couple other scratches, but nothing his enhanced healing couldn’t take care of. He couldn’t tell that well with that thick cloak covering almost everything, but Gabriel didn’t seem severely injured, either.

Jack looked over at Gabriel. “We need to talk.”


	6. A Little More Conversation

As he and Jack walked through the streets of Baltimore, Gabriel felt intensely awkward, and not just because of the people staring at the two masked men walking by. In the past few minutes, neither of them had said anything. However, Jack had motioned for him to follow, and seemed to be leading him somewhere. He hoped it wasn’t some kind of trap. As much as he wanted to trust Jack, it didn’t seem like he liked Gabriel very much anymore.

While they were walking, Gabriel considered his options. He had a feeling he knew what Jack wanted to talk about - the fact that Gabriel had saved him, despite his previous actions not exactly suggesting that he cared if he lived or died. 

Was he going to have to tell Jack the truth?

Did he _want_ to?

At this point, he knew that trying to explain himself without giving the whole truth wouldn’t work. Jack had made that _very_ clear. So, he had done what he could to simply avoid the situation. That was a cowardly move, but he couldn’t face it. It was the kind of decision in which both options were terrible.

But the temptation to check on Jack was still there. In fact, it might have been stronger than before. He couldn’t stop himself from following him here. And when he saw Jack in danger...something activated within him. Something that had been deeply buried. The thing he’d done everything in his power to repress.

Caring.

Now, he was stuck. He could run away again, but he had a feeling that this time, Jack wouldn’t follow. Something about that sounded like his worst nightmare. 

But beyond that, this might be his only chance to tell the truth. The last time there was any shred of a possibility of Jack forgiving him. If he ran now, he would be letting go of that option. He couldn’t do that. 

After a little more awkwardness, the two of them reached an airship. Jack clicked a button in his jacket, and the door to it opened; he beckoned Gabriel to come inside.

The ship was very familiar. One of the ones Overwatch had used. So they didn’t have that much new equipment after all.

In lieu of starting the ship, Jack simply closed the door behind them and sat down on one of the passenger seats. He took his mask off and stared at Gabriel; without a word, he sat down next to Jack.

Jack stared into the distance, not saying anything. After what felt like an eternity, he turned his gaze towards him and spoke. “Why did you help me?”

Gabriel was grateful for his mask, because it made Jack unable to see that he wouldn’t meet his eye. “I couldn’t let you die.” Even admitting that was difficult.

Suddenly, Jack started to shake, his whole body tensing. Oh God, was he about to get in his face again? “Would you stop fucking lying?!” 

Gabriel winced at Jack’s outburst, but had no desire to show that type of weakness in an argument. “It wasn’t a lie! I don’t want you dead.”

“You fucking shot me!” Jack shouted. “I just don’t get it. Nothing you do makes sense. I--” He paused. He started taking deep breaths. Right as Gabriel was about to retort with something, Jack stopped shaking. He said, “I’ve got a deal for you.”

Gabriel looked at him, dreading what was coming next. “What kind of deal?”

Jack closed his eyes for a moment, taking a single breath and unclenching his hands. “You’re gonna tell me everything.” Oh no. “Answer any question I ask. And if you lie once, we’re over for good. You understand?” Although Jack’s gaze was intense and serious, his severe glare had faded.

This was what he’d been afraid of. But he had a feeling this was his last chance. Slowly, he nodded. “Yeah. I got it.” He couldn’t keep down a sigh. “Ask me.”

Jack looked all along his mask, as if studying him. “First. Why are you in Talon? You know they destroyed everything we had, right?” Gabriel hesitated. Was he really ready to reveal his entire plan? “Answer me,” Jack said.

Fine. “You’re not the only one who’s been looking for answers.” Jack cocked his head to the side. Dense old man was really going to make him say it out loud, wasn’t he? “For the past 5 years, I’ve been hiding in their ranks, trying to learn more about what they did and take them down from the inside.”

Jack didn’t respond for a moment, and Gabriel was afraid that he had already decided he was lying. “Okay.” Did that mean he was safe for now? “Why did you shoot me?”

Gabriel winced at the memory. He tried to keep it out of his mind as much as possible, to avoid crushing guilt. “I didn’t want to, but I have to keep an image, or they’ll catch on. I knew you wouldn’t die, but I had to hurt you, because Akande was starting to ask if I still cared about you.” He closed his eyes, although he knew Jack couldn’t see it behind the mask. “I feel guilty for it every day. Promise.”

If Jack thought he was lying, he didn’t show it, as he continued without any accusations. “So why did you tear up our picture? That really hurt, Gabe.”

 _Gabe._ The nickname was still nice to hear. “You were getting too close to figuring me out, and after shooting you didn’t stop you, I needed a way to drive you away before you caught me.”

Jack looked in the opposite direction; Gabriel followed his gaze, but saw nothing there. “That explains a few things, actually.” Gabriel wasn’t sure what he meant by that. “One last thing. What about all those people you killed?”

Gabriel frowned. Jack really was going to tear out every bit of guilt he had, right? “I had to. It’s for my image. Even if it makes me a monster.”

Against Gabriel's expectations, Jack said, “Don’t call yourself that. You’re not a monster. You’re a person.” Wait. Did he really think that? Jack sighed. “I know I did some shitty things, too.” Admitting that at all was more than Jack ever would’ve done a few years ago. He looked back at Gabriel, directly into his eyes. The way the blue still struck him even through his mask was always impressive. “Okay. I believe you.”

Gabriel felt a smile hit his face. That was entirely too positive for his current image, so he was glad Jack couldn’t see it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled, actually. He reached his hand towards Jack. “Friends?” He tried not to show the way his breath caught as he waited for Jack’s answer.

Jack nodded, smiling back. Jack still had that Golden Boy smile. One that would catch anyone’s attention, and made it difficult for even him to be moody. “Yeah. Friends.” He took Gabriel’s hand, shaking it. 

Neither of them said anything for a few moments. It was still a bit awkward, but he hoped that would fade with time. Jack quickly looked up at him. “Wait. This means you can help me take them down. Please?” He asked, using his damn begging face.

Gabriel paused. As much as he wanted to say no, he knew that Jack asking at all was just a formality, because Jack would absolutely not leave him alone about this one. “Alright, fine.”

Jack perked up, like some kind of child. As if they were talking about getting ice cream after dinner instead of an international revenge scheme. “Hey,” he said, looking almost...shy. “Could you take your mask off?”

Gabriel froze for a moment. Shit. “You don’t want to see this, Jack.”

Jack shook his head. “I do. Want to know what you really look like. No more bullshit.”

“Fine,” Gabriel said. The things he did for this man. He put his hands up to his mask, trying not to cringe as he took it off. He couldn’t stop himself from looking at Jack’s reaction, knowing it was going to be upsetting. His red eyes were already strange enough; the massive amount of scars lining his face and the elongated mouth made it worse. His nose appeared as if it had been cut in half, and the smoke coming off of his face didn’t help, either. He was absolutely horrific to look at, his former good looks gone.

But instead of recoiling in horror, Jack merely gave him a wistful smile. “Doesn’t look that bad. Should’ve seen my uncle Ted.” 

Gabriel’s eyes widened. How the hell did Jack not think _this_ was awful? “You’re not fucking with me, right?”

Jack shook his head. “No, uncle Ted really was gross. His hair was always greasy, and he never brushed his teeth. And every time he talked, he would spit at you.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I meant.” 

“Oh, you mean about your face?” Jack said. “No, it looks fine.”

Gabriel stared at Jack’s face, inspecting it for some sign that he was lying, but he didn’t find anything. 

He wasn’t sure what to feel about that.

“So, what do we do now?” Jack asked.

Really, Gabriel had always had one ideal way to complete this mission, one that he had always dismissed as a pipe dream. But this might be his opportunity. “We could be partners. Run off together and fight them.”

“Just me and you?” Jack said.

“Yeah,” Gabriel said. “I’ve got plenty of places to stay.” With the information they had both gathered, they’d certainly be a lot closer to achieving their mutual goal. 

To Gabriel’s shock, Jack said, “No.” He sighed. “The people back at base are my friends, Gabe. They saved me.” _From the pain I caused,_ Gabriel thought. “I can’t just abandon them. Even for you.”

Gabriel tried not to snap at him. Blowing up hadn’t done them any good in the past, and he suspected that they were both on thin ice here. “Then what do you want to do?” He said, doing his absolute best to keep the irritation out of his tone.

“Come back and stay with me,” he said, a hint of pleading in his voice. “We can convince them you’ve got good in you.”

Gabriel shook his head. “You know that won’t work, Jack.”

Jack looked down at the floor. “At least stay nearby, and visit sometimes?”

Gabriel took a deep breath. Why couldn’t Jack have just said yes to his offer? It would’ve made this so much less complicated. “Yeah. I will.”

Seemingly satisfied, Jack got up and pressed a button on the airship. It started to lift up, at a much steadier speed than a helicopter would. “Where are we going?” Gabriel said.

“My room,” Jack said. “I’m not done asking questions.”

\--

When they got to the base, Jack went inside to greet the others, while Gabriel snuck around in wraith form to get into Jack’s room directly; they both had a mutual understanding that Gabriel wasn’t ready to reveal himself to the others yet. It seemed as if Jack was the only one who was very good at catching Gabriel when he turned into smoke. He also put his mask back on, saying it was an ‘insurance policy’ if someone found him.

Jack rushed through the common area and the hallway to get to his room, mumbling ‘hi’ to several people on the way. They probably wondered where he was, but he didn’t have time to explain right now. That’d just have to wait. Fortunately, people would be unlikely to question him racing to his room on his own like this, because he had done it plenty of times before. The life of someone waging a personal war for information.

Jack opened the door to his room and quickly closed it behind him. Immediately, he opened the window, and Gabriel’s smoke slipped inside. 

While Jack was setting up the equipment on his desk, Gabriel spoke up. “You still haven’t told me what you wanted to ask me.” Judging by the way he fidgeted in place, he still seemed a bit nervous. 

“Getting to it,” Jack grunted. “There.” His holo pad was propped up against the desk, with two chairs for them to sit in, and physical copies of the notes he had written about what he’d learned in the past few weeks. He sat down, and patted the chair next to him; slowly, Gabriel sat next to him. He turned towards Gabriel. “Since you’ve been among them, you know more than I do, right?”

“Probably,” Gabriel said, leaning over in the chair and beginning to stare at Jack’s notes.

No time to waste. “What do you know about something called the ‘Technological Fairness Division’?”

If Gabriel was surprised by that question, he didn’t show any signs of it. “Organization in the western US that’s been connected to Omnic attacks on humans.” Jack raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t what he wanted to know. “And yes, Talon’s been in contact with them.”

No surprise there. “What about this guy?” He pulled up a picture of Conway on the holo pad.

Gabriel nodded. “He’s in charge of the organization. But I feel like you already knew that.”

What did he mean by that? 

Wait…

“You sent me that message, didn’t you?” Jack said.

If he could see Gabriel’s face right now, Jack just _knew_ he’d be giving him that annoying smirk of his. “You should make yourself harder to track. Sombra got you so easy.” 

Jack rolled his eyes, although he was thankful that Gabriel probably wasn’t his actual enemy. If he had been, that information could’ve exposed Jack’s identity and location at any time, which was something he very much wouldn’t have wanted to be out in the open. Of course, it was probably obvious by now, but…

Whatever. Brushing off that bit of snark, Jack continued. “Do you know who Andrew Rotem is?”

Gabriel seemed a bit less cocky now, slouching over slightly. “Not really. Only thing I know is that’s not his real name.” 

It made sense. When Jack had searched the name, nothing remotely relevant came up, even on the deeper portions of the network. If this man was so rich and prominent, he certainly would have something available. “You got any idea what his real name is?”

Gabriel shook his head. “I think Akande’s really worked hard to keep that one from me. Every time I try to hint about it, he brushes me off.”

God dammit. Useless. “One last thing. What does any of this have to do with Zurich?” He doubted that Gabriel would’ve sent him that hint for no reason, especially if he had been able to track what Jack had been looking for.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out,” Gabriel said, leaning back in his chair. “Akande hasn’t told me anything about Zurich. I bet he knows it’d piss me off, and make me turn against him. Kinda late for that.” Despite himself, Jack chuckled at that. “But I think this organization had something to do with it. Not only do they have connections to Talon, but every time anything related to them or that Conway guy comes up, Akande finds some reason to get me out of the room. He doesn’t do that with Null Sector, or any other Omnic group we work with. Too suspicious.” Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Gabriel stopped him. “And yeah, all of this means the UN does have connections with Talon.” 

That bit of information should’ve been shocking to Jack, but it really wasn’t. He hadn’t found much definitive proof of that, but with everything he’d learned over the past five years, it seemed pretty obvious. Too many pieces of the puzzle were related to them. “I’m trying to figure out who Andrew Rotem is,” Jack said, more thinking out loud than anything else. “He has to be rich as fuck, if he’s funding these people. If Akande knows who he is, he’s probably connected to Talon. You know anyone who fits that?”

Gabriel’s mask was pointed at him, and Jack guessed he was staring at him. “Are you asking me for rich guys that have to do with Talon? There’d be hundreds of people on that list, Jack.”

Jack sighed. Figures. That left him stumped. Suddenly, though, something came to him. “You think Ogundimu knows you’re helping me?”

Slowly, Gabriel shook his head. “Probably not yet. Why?”

Oh, hell yes. He was on a roll already. “Then you can still get into Talon HQ?”

“Oh, no,” Gabriel said.

“If you can spy on me, you can spy on them,” Jack said.

Gabriel slouched in his chair. “I hate it when you have a point.”

Jack paused. “If it’s too dangerous, you can say no.” He had already lost Gabriel to these people once; he sure as hell didn’t plan on doing it again.

Gabriel scoffed. “I’ve done worse.” 

There was his damn pride again.

Now _that_ was the partner he remembered.


	7. Lost Connection

“You sure you’ll be OK in there?” Jack said on the other line.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mom.” 

The plan was simple. Get into HQ, gather as much intel on Zurich as possible, then get out. As a show of good faith, he embedded a small recorder into his cloak, allowing Jack to see and hear what he did. He wasn’t sure how much they trusted each other at this point. It probably was for the best, but something about even needing to do this with Jack made whatever was left of his heart ache. 

Just outside of Roman HQ, he put on his mask. It was a blessing that he wore it, actually; he had a good poker face, but he didn’t want to take any chances with his facial expressions giving anything away. 

He opened the door, walking inside with his head held high. With his fearsome reputation and standoffish attitude, most of the grunts were terrified of him, and avoided him as much as they could while in the building. He heard hushed whispers among them every time he got near, and they would quickly get to the other side of the hallway as quickly as possible. Probably thought they were being discreet. Not very bright.

Now that he was well inside, he had to start being a bit more stealthy. The first place to check was obvious. On base, there was a room with many files (Talon generally kept its most guarded secrets using pen and paper; Sombra showed just how easy digital networks are to break into) that he had noticed Akande doing everything to keep him out of. When he’d first tried to walk in, Akande had immediately asked him to stop by his office. Over time, Gabriel noticed that every time he got near the room, Akande would come up with some excuse to get him away. With how off-limits the room clearly was, he knew it would arouse suspicion to try to go inside. Really, this was a terrible strategic decision.

But wasn’t this whole thing a terrible strategic decision?

Checking his surroundings, he saw nobody nearby. Despite this, he tried to appear as casual as possible when he approached the door. It was locked. He tested his security clearance on the holo pad attached to the door; it was rejected.

God damn it. There goes not being suspicious.

Resigned to his fate, he turned to wraith form and slid underneath the doorframe. If anyone walked by right now, they’d certainly wonder what the hell was going on; hopefully, though, any grunts would be too stupid to think anything of it. Just their mysterious authority figure being strange again.

He made it inside, turning corporeal again. Regenerating after becoming complete smoke always hurt like fuck, and he gritted his teeth to avoid breathing too loudly. 

No time to feel sorry for himself now. He’d do that later.

The room had a simple layout; it only contained long shelves lined with files. Luckily, nothing was locked here. There weren’t typically surveillance cameras within the base itself, but he scoped out the room anyway; he didn’t find anything on the walls or ceiling. That didn’t mean there wasn’t one that was harder to detect, though, so he kept his movements as natural as possible. If the recording was inspected by Akande, he’d certainly see the problem with it, but he wasn’t watching the cameras at all times. Just don’t look so strange that the camera guy reports it. Sounds simple enough.

He looked down at his cloak, hoping Jack was still watching. He could use an extra pair of eyes. The feed was muted so Jack’s voice wouldn’t carry through, just in case Jack couldn’t keep his damn mouth shut. Stealth wasn’t exactly his specialty. 

Luckily for him, the files were labeled and organized in alphabetical order, with tabs separating each letter. 

He decided to start with  _ Z.  _ There were only a few files. Skimming them, he realized that none of them had anything to do with Zurich at all; they were only related to investors whose names started with Z. Damn it. 

Investors. That reminded him of something.

He searched the  _ R  _ tab next. He glanced over them until he reached the files titled ‘Ro’; the second file was his jackpot. It was small, but at least it was topical.

_ Investor File: Andrew Rotem (Alias for Reginald Powers) _

_ Location: Redwood Grove, California _

_ Net Worth: $60 billion _

_ Importance: Moderate _

_ Details: CEO of Powers Metal, a leading manufacturer of Omnic parts. Willing to help fund political campaigns of Talon-backed politicians.  _ That made sense; campaign contributions were public. If any candidate was funded by known terrorists, it would certainly arouse suspicion. As much as he looked down on these people, they were still very clever.  _ Also helps partner organizations. Has shown no signs of resistance to the cause yet. Clean record.  _

Gabriel had never heard of that town or that business, but the net worth told him all he needed to know of why this guy was useful to Talon. 

Reginald Powers, huh? 

Looks like he had to pay someone a visit. 

\--

While he and Gabriel were flying to California, guilt was nagging at Jack.

“Gabe, I know you don’t want to face this. But I don’t want to lie to them. They’re my friends.” That morning, Lena had asked him where he was going, and he knew Gabriel would be furious if he told her the truth. After everything they’d done for him, lying to them not only made Jack feel guilty, but also felt like him regressing to his old self. Hiding things from his friends was something he didn’t want to do anymore. Not after he’d been such a hermit for so many years.

Gabriel huffed. “This isn’t about you, you know.”

Oh, great. He was going to be difficult again. He ignored his obvious attempt to frustrate Jack. “I get it. I didn’t want to show them who I was, either.”

“No, you don’t get it,” Gabriel said, an edge to his voice. “You didn’t become a terrorist while you were gone. You could still call yourself some kind of hero.”

_ You’re still a hero to me,  _ Jack thought, but decided to keep that to himself; they might not be ready for that kind of emotion yet. “They’re some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. They’ll take you in. Me and Ana can convince them.”

Gabriel sighed. “I told you. I’m not doing it.” 

This was already making Jack want to tear his hair out. Gabriel just had a special talent for being frustrating. “Can you stop being such a child for five minutes?!” Jack said, trying not to shout. Gabriel backed away slightly, seeming startled by his outburst.

Right. Remember what Zenyatta said. Control your anger. Don’t lose your temper just because people don’t do what you want. It’s OK. 

As he closed his eyes and took deep breaths, Jack felt his anger retreat. “Sorry. Shouldn’t have snapped at you.” Actually apologizing was something Zenyatta had helped him with, as well; it was still difficult for him, but he knew his relationships were more important than his pride. Especially ones as important as his with Gabriel. “Just want you to come home. We can help you. Please?”

Slowly, Gabriel got closer to Jack again. “They’ll hate me. I don’t even get how you don’t.”

Jack gave him a wistful smile. “Not everyone is as bitter as us, Gabe.” He shifted in his chair, looking down at the ground. “And I know there’s still good in you. If there wasn’t, you wouldn’t be helping me at all.”

“I don’t get you,” Gabriel said, turning his head away as well. “I thought you got over me.”

Jack chuckled. “Couldn’t ever fully do that. Even after everything, I still missed you. Just realized that I had to keep living, even if you weren’t there. I couldn’t kill myself ‘cause I didn’t have you.” He hoped Gabriel didn’t know that he had almost done that intentionally. 

“You would’ve been happier without me, you know,” Gabriel said. Jack wished he wouldn’t brood so much.

Jack leaned back in his chair. Being able to share their emotions like this was...nice. After so much time communicating so poorly, this was a welcome improvement. “Maybe. But why not take the chance one last time? If you fuck it up, I’ve got something to fall back on.” 

“So, you got it all figured out, huh?” Gabriel said. Jack laughed at that. They were silent for a moment; then, Gabriel reached his hand upward and took off his mask. Jack tried not to look on in awe at this type of vulnerability. Gabriel grimaced. “I know I’m ugly, but stop staring.”

Jack looked in the other direction. “It’s not that. Just...glad you trust me with that, I guess.” The words were hard to get out, and Jack felt his face heat up when he said them.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack noticed Gabriel staring at him; to make up for looking away, he looked Gabriel directly in the eyes. Those red eyes didn’t look so odd to him, no matter what anyone else thought. “You’re a corny old man, you know that?”

Jack smiled at him. “Maybe. Nothing wrong with that.” Gabriel hummed.

Some time passed, a surprisingly comfortable silence developing. As much as he wanted to continue this discussion, the autopilot began landing the plane. When they landed, Gabriel put his mask back on. Jack supposed it made sense; he wouldn’t trust the masses with his face. Still, it was sad that he felt the need to hide himself at all. Although that made Jack a bit of a hypocrite, because he put his own mask on afterwards. No need to reveal his identity.

The two of them stepped off the plane, which landed in a field near the city. Thank God the autopilot was better at landing than either of them.

As they entered the city, Jack took in his surroundings. It was a small city; certainly smaller than many of the places he had gone to with Overwatch. Probably about the size of the urban part of Bloomington. Still, after growing up on a farm, cities left him in a bit of awe. There was just so much going on in them. 

The streets were bustling with activity. He saw Gabriel turn to smoke and slip into an alleyway; luckily, Jack had sent the address to the other man’s holo pad. Despite it feeling a bit rude for Gabriel to leave without saying anything, he knew the reason for it. Traveling with a well-known international terrorist would quickly cause panic. Although Jack was a bit less feared than Gabriel was, it still left him uneasy. A police matter would make this much more inconvenient. 

He trekked through the city on his way to the address; he noticed people staring at him as he walked by, but none of them seemed too terrified. He supposed this peaceful city had nothing to do with his activities. It warmed his heart to know that there were still places like this in the world. Places that had been unaffected by the violence and turmoil of his personal world. It was the type of place he wanted to protect. 

Their destination was...not exactly inconspicuous. In a city full of mostly medium-sized buildings, it towered as a massive mansion in the middle of town. What a show off. This kind of excess was always so ridiculous to Jack. 

When he got close to the building, Gabriel materialized in front of the door. Jack tried not to jump. “Could’ve warned me before jumping in my face, you dick,” Jack grumbled. He suspected Gabriel did that on purpose.

“Aw, were you scared?” Gabriel said in a blatantly mocking tone.

Jack shook his head. “Wasn’t scared. I was just startled,” he said. 

“Sure, sure,” Gabriel said, still sounding as if he was mocking Jack. Jack rolled his eyes. 

Jack stood in front of the door; up close, the mansion looked even more massive. The doorframe towered over him. 

Obviously, the door was locked. Jack looked over at Gabriel, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, Gabriel grabbed onto him. “Stand still,” he said. Jack had no time to react before the two of them were teleported into the house. Jack coughed, and his stomach felt as if it were turning inside out. “Yeah, I know that feels like shit. It’ll wear off in a minute.”

Jack glared at him through his mask. Luckily, the pain did subside quickly. He shook it off and led the way through the mansion.

He wasn’t entirely sure where he was going. The flooring and walls, both a pure white, seemed to go on forever. Pictures lined the long hallways in front of them. Jack decided to enter the closest one, motioning for Gabriel to follow.

The two crept through the hallway, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Jack wasn’t sure if anyone was in here, but he wasn’t going to take any chances.

He checked every room he passed for this Reginald guy; unfortunately, he found nothing but exuberant furniture and paintings in each room. He wasn’t even sure what the purpose of most of these places was. One of the larger rooms had a massive indoor pool in it. Tch. The amount of excess here was ridiculous. 

Not finding anything of use on the first floor, the two slowly walked up the stairs. The sound of the steps felt entirely too loud for Jack’s liking.

The stairs seemed much longer than a regular staircase, but they eventually made it to the second floor. There were doors on both sides. Nodding to Gabriel, Jack opened the door on the left. Nothing useful. Just a massive bookshelf. 

Suddenly, he heard Gabriel say ‘Shit!’ from the other room. Instantly, he ran towards it. Oh God, if he was hurt…

When he got inside, he first noticed that Gabriel was unhurt. That was the most important thing. Gabriel pointed at the floor, and what Jack saw turned his stomach.

There was a man with a hole in his head, lying in a pool of his own blood. 


	8. Don't Run Away

Both of them were silent for a few moments, simply staring at the dead body beside them. Jack didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen dead people before, but it never got any easier, even if this guy seemed kind of like a scumbag.

Finally, Gabriel said, “Well, guess that means we got the right guy.”

Jack felt tempted to laugh at the nonchalant way he said that, but he decided now wasn’t the time. 

He glanced around the area of the room, wondering if whoever did this was still in here, but didn’t find any traces of activity. “What the hell do we do now?” Gabriel paused for a moment, then walked towards the body. He started feeling along the body’s sides. “What are you doing?” Jack asked.

“Searching for explosives,” Gabriel said, without looking up. 

“Do you have to manhandle it like that?” Jack said, cringing at the sight of the body being shifted around.

“He’s dead. What does he care?”

Jack sighed. He knew Gabriel was just being logical, but he hated disrespecting the dead like this. This was why he didn’t want to kill people unless it was strictly necessary. Kicking someone’s ass and taking their life just felt different. Even if they didn’t directly do this, he had a feeling that their snooping was the motive.

He had no more time to think before he heard the sound of glass breaking down the hallway, and many footsteps coming towards them. He and Gabriel looked at each other, and Gabriel got up. Both of them picked up their weapons.

A group of people in Talon uniforms smashed the door, then began running towards them. Gabriel shot one down, while Jack bashed one in the head with the butt of his rifle; both fell to the ground. 

There were a massive number of them, and it sounded like reinforcements were coming. “Come on!” He shouted at Gabriel, then punched out the window. He jumped out; the drop was about 15 feet, but his enhancements meant that he wouldn’t be injured too badly. Hopefully.

Gabriel followed him; in no time, they both landed on the grass below. It hurt his legs like a bitch, but he could still run. Looking over at Gabriel, he saw that he had simply used his wraith form to hit the ground harmlessly. That felt like cheating.

Without a word, the two of them ran towards where they had landed the helicopter. He looked behind him; without enhanced strength, the Talon soldiers were much slower than the two of them were. 

The people in the city gave them strange looks, but Jack paid them no mind. He was sure they’d make the news. Oh well. 

Jack used the button on his coat to open the helicopter’s door well before they reached it; they couldn’t waste even a second.

When they got to the plane, they both rushed inside, and Jack turned the autopilot on, entering the base as their destination. He wasn’t sure if Gabriel wanted to go there, but it was the first place that came to mind.

The plane lifted off, and both of them spent a few moments catching their breath. His joints were going to hurt like fuck for the next few days. He looked down, lifting his pants up to inspect his legs for wounds, and didn’t find anything serious. The pain was still there, but it didn’t look like he’d broken any of his bones or received any gashes.

As if they had some kind of unspoken agreement, both of them took their masks off. Something about the barrier just didn’t feel right for Jack, and he suspected Gabriel felt the same way.

When they were a bit more composed, Jack finally turned towards Gabriel. “So, I guess Talon doesn’t like you anymore.”

Gabriel glared at him. “No shit.” Gabriel was still breathing hard. “Where do we go now?” Jack suspected this question was going to start an argument, and he dreaded the prospect.

“You can come back to base with me. I’ll convince the others,” Jack said, having a feeling he knew what Gabriel’s answer would be.

Gabriel shook his head. Yep, knew it. “Not happening. But I have a couple houses. You can stay with me for a while, while we work this shit out.”

“I told you, I’m not doing that,” Jack said. He was going to stand his ground here; Gabriel may be important to him, but he wouldn’t abandon his friends for him. If he was honest with himself, he still didn’t feel comfortable basing his whole life on Gabriel. It didn’t exactly go well last time.

Gabriel glared at him. “And I told  _ you,  _ I’m not going with you so they can just arrest me.”

“They won’t. Please trust me, Gabe. I know them,” he said.

“You’re not the problem. I don’t trust them. Not after everything.”

Jack’s hands were shaking. Oh, no. He knew very well the signs that he was losing his temper again. “Would you get over your damn pride already?!” He said. “You’re just scared of facing them. I see through your bullshit.”

“Excuse me for not wanting to hear them say how awful I am!” Gabriel said, raising his voice. 

Jack tried to start doing his calming techniques, but he couldn’t leave what Gabriel was saying alone. “Why do you want me to just drop everyone I care about just for you? Do you know how fucking selfish that is?!” The volume of Jack’s voice matched Gabriel’s.

Gabriel’s gaze turned cold. “Should’ve known you were going to abandon me. You left me to die once, might as well do it again.”

Jack felt red-hot rage burn through his veins. “I said I was sorry! What else do you fucking want from me, Gabriel? You want me to just go back in time and fix everything?”

“Do you even actually still care about me, or do you just want to fuel your good guy Boy Scout bullshit? Did you ever care about me at all?” Gabriel said. 

It was clear Gabriel was trying to cut deep, and Jack tried to pretend it wasn’t working. He wasn’t above doing it, too. “All you ever wanna do is be the victim, Gabriel. Everyone is out to get you. When will you fucking understand that I’m on your side?”

Gabriel scoffed. “Yeah, hard to believe that when you scream at me over shit.”

This was getting them nowhere. “Look,” Jack said, lowering the volume of his voice. “I feel bad for what I did every day. Told you I’m sorry, and I meant it. If that’s not enough for you, then I guess we’re fucked.”

Gabriel looked away. “It’s not that easy, Jack.”

Jack shook his head. “It can be. You  _ make  _ it not easy.” He looked at the ground, trying to cool down from his outburst. “Gabe, I don’t want to fight anymore.” 

“What else can we do?” Gabriel asked. 

The fact that he even needed to ask that question showed Jack just how ridiculous their relationship was. When he thought about it, he realized that all they ever did was fight; either fighting against someone else together or fighting each other. Had they ever learned how to be peaceful at all?

“Who knows?” Jack said. “I just don’t get it. You said you don’t really hate me, but you still fight me on everything.” 

“I don’t hate you,” Gabriel said. “It’s just hard to trust you again.”

Jack sighed. “You think it’s not hard for me, too?” After everything that happened, putting all of his faith in Gabriel again wasn’t easy. But...that didn’t mean it was impossible, either. “But I wanna try. Do you?”

Gabriel clasped his hands together, still not looking at Jack. “Yeah. I do.”

Jack shifted closer to him and patted him on the shoulder. Gabriel finally turned towards him, looking surprised. Slowly, he gave Jack a small smile, one that was...actually kind of cute. “You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want,” Jack said, even though the words left a bad taste in his mouth. “But you’ll be in danger if you’re alone. What if they’re looking for you?”

“I can handle myself,” Gabriel mumbled. There was his pride again.

“Yeah, but do you  _ want  _ to be on your own?” Jack asked, already knowing the answer.

Gabriel frowned; the way he always did when he knew someone else was right. “I told you, I’ll be fine.”

Jack rolled his eyes, not willing to indulge his attempts to be difficult. “Then why did you come find me in the first place?”

Gabriel paused. In lieu of responding directly, he said, “You can tell them about me if I don’t have to live there,” he said, voice low. “I’ve got a house close by I can stay at.”

Well, that was probably the best he was going to get. “Alright. But I get to tell them what you’ve been doing, including the double agent shit.”

“Fine,” Gabriel grumbled.

Jack reached his hand out. “Shake on it?” He gave Gabriel a small grin. Gabriel looked at him thoughtfully, then took his hand and shook it.

“Wait a minute,” Gabriel started, “Did you just use your diplomat negotiation shit on me?”

Jack laughed, feeling all of the tension leave him almost instantly. “If it makes you feel better, you’re harder to negotiate with than any government I’ve dealt with.” 

Gabriel smirked at him. “Then what I’m doing is working.” 

“None of them were ever as frustrating as you, trust me,” Jack said. He was glad Gabriel could still tell these comments were good-natured. Maybe that was some kind of progress.

“That hurts right here, Jack,” he said, tapping his chest at the location of his heart. If he still had one, considering how his body was now.

Jack scoffed. “I’d take you over them any day. At least you don’t kiss my ass so I’ll give you money.”

“Thanks for the idea,” Gabriel said. He froze. “Wait. Maybe that’s what Reginald was for.”

Jack stared at him. “Huh?”

“When I saw his profile at HQ, it said he contributed to Talon-backed politicians. That’s gotta be his connection to all of this,” he said, looking more excited than Jack had seen him since they first made up. “Maybe he’s connected to the UN, too.”

Jack’s eyes widened, as a realization hit him. “Campaign contributions are all public.”

Gabriel nodded. 

“Looks like we’ve got some more research to do.”

\--

“I have bad news, Conway,” the man on the other line says. I am not sure who he is; he seems to only be communicating with me to deliver a message.

I am not looking forward to whatever he has to say, but I answer anyway. “What is it?”

“We had to kill Reginald.” I freeze, a stroke of pure terror hitting me. 

“But why?”

The man sighs. “That’s not the worst part. The reason we had to do it is because Morrison and Reyes are onto us. They found him.”

I am not sure what to say. “I thought Reyes was on Talon’s side.” I say this already knowing what the answer is. 

“It looks like he betrayed us,” the man says.

I am not entirely comfortable with the usage of  _ us;  _ my division is not the same as Talon. Or at least, it should not be. Still, I ignore it. “Do you have any plans to deal with the problem?”

“We’ll do everything we can to kill both of them, but we can’t make any promises.”

Something about the thought of killing those two seems wrong to me. It should not, considering the circumstances. I will parse this later. “Very well. Thank you for informing me,” I say, not forgetting my manners.

“No problem. We’ll keep you posted.” 

With that, the man hangs up.

I am not sure how to feel about this development. Reginald was not a particularly good man. He was very greedy, and clearly did not value the lives of others. His commitment to the cause was out of a desire for monetary gain, as much as he tried to hide that fact. In theory, I should not mourn him too deeply.

However, it seems unnecessary to lose another life in such a way. I recall what my creator told me.  _ Conway, everyone can make a difference,  _ he had said in that thick country accent of his.  _ Anyone could be the next one to save the world. Don’t you forget that. _

While I am very doubtful that Reginald would be saving anyone, I still understand the purpose of the statement.

I sigh. He is gone, and there is no getting him back. It would be best to try to move on.

As I progress through my day, trying to prepare for the next phase of our plan, something nags at me. The presence of Morrison and Reyes...I was aware they were still alive, but now they seem to be working directly against me. When I was young, I saw them as symbols of heroism; something about being on the opposite side of them makes me wonder how that could come to pass.

Of course, I still hate what they have done. But being directly against my childhood heroes is a turn of events that makes me wonder if they have turned against the greater good, and only work for their own selfishness now. Something about that feels unacceptable. 

I wish I could speak to them. Try and understand their thought processes. But I am not certain that they would not simply attempt to kill me if they saw me.

If they must be my opponents, then I suppose there is nothing I can do about it, because I will not stop fighting for my ideals. I will not stop fighting for Omnic liberation, especially after the recent actions of the new Overwatch. 

I suppose I am now being faced with a decision. If they are working directly against my organization, I either choose to be complicit with their assassination, or I fight against it.

I gaze at the picture of Sandra on my desk.

_ My dear Sandy, what do I do? _


	9. Hope

Even though they’d already agreed to it, Jack still wasn’t entirely satisfied with their arrangement. Jack had wanted Gabriel to come with him and reveal himself, but he had refused, demanding that Jack talk to them without him being there. He knew Gabriel was just afraid, and he didn’t want to get into another argument, so he agreed. Ana had told him multiple times about the importance of compromise, and for once, he actually took her advice. 

That was how he ended up in front of the base alone. Gabriel had faded away, but told Jack he’d be nearby so they could continue their research as quickly as they could. Jack wasn’t sure if that was the only reason, but he didn’t really have time to try to understand Gabriel’s games. His mind was occupied at the moment.

There was a lump in his throat as he opened the door. Would they accept Gabriel? Would this ruin his friendship with the others?

Luckily, he found Winston quickly. Winston greeted him with a smile, and Jack tried to return it; sadly, his nerves made that impossible. He asked Winston to call a meeting with the others; although he gave Jack a quizzical look, he agreed.

In only a few moments, everyone on base was in the meeting room, all of them surrounding a round table. He felt as if everyone’s gaze was burning into him.

Jack cleared his throat. “Sorry this was so sudden, but I need to talk to all of you about something.” The group stared at him; luckily, Jack had always functioned well speaking in front of a crowd, even now. At least he was in his element. He took a deep breath. “I got in contact with Ga- Reyes.” 

Winston perked up a bit. “So, you know where we can find him?”

Jack hesitated. Winston didn’t seem to get his point, and he wondered if the others did. “Lemme just be honest.” He refused to lie to these people; not after he’d finally managed to form some kind of friendship with them. “He saved my life.”

At that, everyone started talking amongst themselves; they all looked extremely confused. Finally, Angela spoke above everyone’s chatter. “Why would he do that? He just shot you recently.”

Jack looked directly at the others, refusing to look away even as tension built in his stomach. “I’ll tell you what he told me. He’s a double agent that’s been trying to take Talon down from the inside.” That statement was met mostly with bewildered looks, but no one interrupted him. “The thing is--” He paused, having trouble adding the next part -- “I believe him, and want him to come here and help us.”

Multiple people looked at each other. Ana spoke up. “Jack, I want to be on your side, but...are you sure you’re not letting your feelings cloud your judgment?”

He shook his head. “He wouldn’t have saved me for no reason.”

“Are you sure this isn’t a trap?” Winston said. 

Looks like this might be a bit of a harder sell than he thought. The others didn’t look particularly hostile, but they were clearly not understanding where he was coming from; this kind of group disapproval made him uncomfortable nowadays. For much of his life, he could convince whole crowds of people with his words, so being unable to do that was always stressful to him. Not only that, but disagreement from others, and them turning against him because of it, was one of the major causes of his life being ruined. 

“Don’t you remember, guys?” Jack said, trying not to sound desperate. “He was our friend. For a long time. Don’t you think it’s weird that he’d just turn on us?”

Lena bit her lip. “That’s true, but…”

“He could be a big help against Talon,” Jack said. “Probably knows so many of their secrets.” He tried his best to not focus only on his own feelings, and to think of the bigger picture; at the very least, that’d be more effective for convincing people.

Everyone in the room gave a look that suggested discomfort, save for two: Ana, who looked sympathetic, and McCree, who wasn’t looking at him at all. 

At that moment, though, McCree looked at Winston and said, “Can me and Jack talk about this outside?”

Winston nodded, and McCree got up from his chair and approached Jack, who had no idea what the hell was going on. He wanted to get out of this room, though, so he’d take any excuse he could get. He started to follow him outside.

The two walked through the hallway, neither saying a word. To Jack’s surprise, McCree started to walk further, until they were in the courtyard. Oh. So that was what he meant by ‘outside’.

Once they got outdoors, McCree turned on his heels and looked directly at Jack. His gaze was unusually serious, a rare frown on his face. “You got a lotta nerve, Morrison.”

Jack looked away, unable to meet his eye. “Jesse…”

McCree shook his head, taking his cigarette out of his mouth and stepping on it. “Just don’t get it. After everything he did to you? Everythin’ he did to  _ us?”  _

“I know he hurt all of us, Jesse, but…”

McCree glared at him. “But nothin’! Do you know what he does to people? Kills ‘em and takes from them ‘till there’s nothin’ left! You want that to happen to you?”

“You think I don’t know that?!” Jack said, trying not to yell. “But what if he could change? What if he could go back to how he was before? Isn’t that worth the risk?”

“No, it ain’t!” Jesse said, raising his voice. “What if he hurt Lena?” Jack froze; that thought had been in his mind, but he’d blocked it out as much as he possibly could. “Or Hana? Mei? Or anyone else?”

Jack stared at the ground. He knew that McCree was right. But he couldn’t let go of Gabriel so easily. “I know what you’re saying makes sense. But if he really is telling the truth, I don’t want to just leave him.” 

McCree was silent. He turned away, taking out another cigarette and looking into the distance. He lit it, then put it to his lips; he blew out some smoke, and put his free hand in his pocket. He took a deep breath, looking up at the sky. “You still love him, don’tcha?”

Jack was taken aback by that question; something about verbalizing that thought just felt wrong. After processing it for a moment, he answered, truthfully: “I don’t know.”

Did he? After spending so much time becoming more independent, he was certain that he didn’t  _ need  _ him anymore. But did he  _ want  _ him? Even thinking about it felt overwhelming; it gave him so many conflicting emotions that he couldn’t even begin to parse.

“I want him back too, y’know,” McCree said. “And I get it. Hard to let go.” He sighed. “Do you trust him?” The slight rise in his voice contrasted with the collected air he gave off. 

Jack nodded. “He saved me. And…” Jack closed his eyes. “If I didn’t, our whole relationship would’ve been a waste.”

McCree took another drag off his cigarette; as he took it from his mouth, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “I’ll back you up. If you trust him for real, I’ll trust him too.” 

A smile hit Jack’s face almost instantly, and he tried not to light up too much. He didn’t want to let on just how invested he was in this, although he suspected McCree could tell. And possibly everyone else. “Thanks, Jesse. Means a lot.”

McCree chuckled, his deep voice a low rumble. “Yeah, well. Don’t ever say I don’t do nothin’ for you, old man.” He turned back towards Jack.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, cowpoke,” Jack said, grinning. “Let’s go back inside.”

As they walked back to the meeting room, neither of them said anything. They didn’t need to. 

It was so nice to have real friends again.

McCree opened the door to the meeting room, and both of them walked inside. Jack’s head was held high, a newfound confidence hitting him.

Both of them sat down in their respective chairs, and McCree (rudely) put his feet on the table. “Think we should let him in,” McCree said. Jack saw Winston and Lena stare at each other, with Winston looking shocked. “Can always kick his ass if he starts any trouble.” 

“Are you sure?” Winston asked.

“Sure as can be. Trust me, me and the old man can keep him in check,” McCree said, winking at Jack.

Nobody spoke for a moment, until Lena said, “If Dad trusts him, I do too.”

Ana smiled. “I suppose he deserves a chance.”

“Yes, I have missed my friend!” Reinhardt said.

“Reinhardt has told me so many stories about him that I feel like I know him, too,” Brigitte said, and Jack wondered just how exhausting it must be to hear Reinhardt’s tales all the time.

Winston shrugged. “Well, it’s settled, then. Tell him he’s welcome here.”

A rush of pure joy went through Jack, and he tried not to get choked up. “Thanks, everyone. Won’t let you down.”

He wasn’t sure how he’d been lucky enough to get such good friends.

\--

The group all had dinner together. It verified that Jack’s connection to these people was just as strong as it had been before, and he didn’t have to choose between them and Gabriel. Thank God.

Jack went to his room afterwards; just as he predicted, Gabriel was waiting there, having slipped in through his window again. “They said you’re welcome here,” he blurted out, before Gabriel had the chance to ask. Hey, he was excited. Give him a break.

“They did?” Gabriel said, sounding shocked. Jack wished he could see his expression beneath the mask, but he knew Gabriel wouldn’t be comfortable with the possibility of someone walking in and seeing his face. 

“Yeah. And you better cooperate and be nice to them,” Jack said, sternly pointing a finger at Gabriel.

Gabriel crossed his arms. “Okay, Mom.” 

There was something about Gabriel being intentionally annoying that made Jack unusually happy. It felt so familiar. Like he was back home.

Jack only responded by laughing. He got out his holo pad, ready to get to work. As he prepared his desk, though, he couldn’t get what McCree had said out of his mind.

_ You still love him, don’tcha? _

The more he thought about it, the further away he got from an answer. He knew the best option would be to wait and see how his feelings develop, but being patient was never his strong suit. 

Even if he did love Gabriel, they weren’t at any kind of stage that they could talk about those things yet. Jack didn’t want to give up this tenuous partnership they had just for feelings that might be fleeting.

Oh well. No better distraction from feelings than working.

Jack sat down at his desk, pulling up a chair for Gabriel. He stared at the holo pad screen, unsure of where to start. “How do we find who he’s been contributing to?”

Gabriel pulled a pad out of his cloak. Where did he get that? “I’ve been compiling a list of politicians that backstabbed Overwatch.” Jack didn’t want to know what he’d been planning to do to them. “They’ll probably be on there.”

“Got a feeling that’s a long-ass list,” Jack said with a bitter chuckle.

“It sure as hell is,” Gabriel said, sounding just as angry about it. “But we can try to narrow it down. Let’s start with members of the UN.”

As Jack looked over his shoulder, Gabriel pressed a series of buttons, and the list decreased in size. However, the length of it still gave Jack a sinking feeling in his chest. So many people in the government were betraying them. And he never saw any of it coming. God, he was such an idiot.

“Do you know any that talked a lot about Omnic rights?” Jack asked. If he was honest, he could barely remember who the specific people were at this point. It’d been years, and all of them had blurred together for him at the time. None of them showed any real personality. Not good for the cameras.

“A few,” Gabriel said, scrolling through the list. “Let’s start with the members from the US. The first one is Rebecca Obin.”

They searched through Obin’s campaign contributions, but found nothing of note; she had been contributed to by some shady lobbying firms, but nothing listed under the alias ‘Andrew Rotem’, his organization, or anything related to it.

After going through all of the contributions, as well as Gabriel’s existing knowledge, they decided to rule her out. The other representative from the west coast on the list was one of the members of the UN Security Council at the time of Overwatch’s collapse. Marion Stillwater.

While going through his contributions, Jack froze. He saw the name. Andrew Rotem.

He turned towards Gabriel, who looked back at him, clearly having seen the same thing. “Where is he?” Jack said.

“I’m pulling it up now.” Gabriel scrolled down the man’s profile; apparently, he was a senator in Washington at the moment.

Jack stared at the screen, not sure what to make of this. All of this had been under his nose the whole time, and he hadn’t seen any of it. This convoluted scheme was probably going on for years, and he never managed to notice it. He should’ve listened to Gabriel. 

Gabriel had fought so hard to save Overwatch, and all Jack could do was be in denial. Argue with him. Show disapproval. And now everything had come to this.

“Gabe?” He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Gabriel turned around; when he saw Jack’s face, a look of concern hit him. “You alright?”

“I’m sorry,” Jack managed. “I let all of this happen. You were right the whole time.” How could Gabriel not still hate him?

Gabriel shook his head. “It’s in the past, Jack.”

He felt himself sinking into the feelings of failure again, so he started his affirmations.

_ Couldn’t have known.  _

_ People love me. _

_ Gabriel is alive. _

_ It’s not my fault. _

The affirmations did help to some degree, but the familiar misery was hard to shake off completely. Not when he was reminded of how he treated Gabriel. He grabbed the sides of his head, as if that could physically block out the thoughts. “I’m sorry, Gabe. I’m so sorry,” he said, unable to look at Gabriel.

Gabriel did something unexpected: he grabbed onto Jack and hugged him. He began rubbing the top of Jack’s head. “Shhh,” he said; even in his distorted Reaper voice, it was still a soothing sound. “You did all you could.”

He knew Gabriel was right. But it was so hard to accept, even with all of the recovery he’d done. He buried his head in Gabriel’s chest, who held him tighter.

After a few moments, Gabriel still stroking his hair, Jack looked up. The clock next at his bedside said it was midnight. Jack hadn’t realized until then how exhausted he was. “I’m gonna sleep. We should pick this up tomorrow,” Jack said, voice still a bit shaky.

“Good idea,” Gabriel said. “Goodnight, Jack.”

“Wait.” Jack didn’t want him to leave. Not now. “Can you stay?” He pointed to the couch on the right side of the room. “You don’t have to.”

Gabriel said nothing for a moment. Then, he reached his hand to his face and took off his mask. “Yeah. I’ll stay.”

God, something about seeing Gabriel’s face was so reassuring, even with how different it was now. “Thanks.” He didn’t verbalize just how much that meant to him, but he suspected Gabriel knew.

Jack took one of the pillows off his bed and put it on the couch, and gave Gabriel a blanket. It didn’t look incredibly comfortable, but both of them were used to sleeping in much worse conditions than that.

Jack turned the light off. As he got onto his bed, he got under his blanket and rested his head on the pillow. Relaxing in a bed with Gabriel nearby helped quiet the negative thoughts considerably. This was the right decision.

“Night, Gabe,” Jack said, giving him a small smile that wouldn’t be visible in the darkness.

“Goodnight, Jack,” Gabriel said.

Jack fell asleep almost instantly, fast enough to not see Gabriel get up and stand over his bed, smiling at him, or to hear him mumble, “I love you.”


	10. A Bit of Soft, A Bit of Sin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> first (and not last) smut!

The next morning, Gabriel realized something: he actually had been able to sleep through the night. Usually, pain or nightmares kept him awake, and he’d only sleep for a few hours at most. Some nights, he couldn’t sleep at all, and he’d spend those hours staring at the ceiling and wishing he was someone else.

He looked over at the bed nearby; even though he predicted Jack would be awake by now (damn farm boy always had to be up at sunrise), he still felt a bit disappointed to not see Jack immediately after waking up. 

These types of thoughts were probably dangerous. For a while he brushed them off as merely being the side effect of being very close platonically, but it was becoming clear that they weren’t simply a result of rekindling strong friendship. These feelings were supposed to be in the past. Not much time had passed since he had gotten Jack to give him any kind of chance at all; he didn’t exactly want to push his luck.

He didn’t have any more time to indulge those feelings before Jack opened the door. “Oh. Hey. You’re up,” Jack said. “You were knocked the hell out. When was the last time you got any sleep?” There was a hint of concern in Jack’s voice. The older he grew, the more he turned into some kind of mother hen.

Gabriel sat up and stretched. His joints didn’t really get very stiff from lack of movement, considering they were mostly composed of nanobots, but he still had the habit of doing that upon getting up. A piece of humanity he retained, he supposed. 

“I don’t know. Few days, maybe.”  _ Or years,  _ he thought, but didn’t say aloud; no need to worry Jack. Even if he appreciated Jack’s empathy, it wasn’t worth making his friend feel guilty.

Jack stared at him, as if he were sizing him up. “Hm,” Jack said, sounding entirely unconvinced. Damn, he hated the way Jack could see through his bullshit. “Anyway, breakfast is in a few minutes. Wanna come down?”

Gabriel tried to hold back a groan. It would be difficult to find a way out of this one; saying no would make him seem uncooperative, and he wasn’t exactly standing on favorable ground with most people here. But at the same time, he sure as hell didn’t want to go down and be judged by these so-called heroes for not being perfectly moral all the time. Or for them to pity him, which would honestly be even worse. Only Jack could get away with that.

He noticed that Jack was still staring at him. Right, he had to at least say  _ something.  _ “They don’t want me there.”

Jack frowned. “You have to give them a chance, Gabe. I did, and I’m sure as hell better off for it.” When Gabriel said nothing, he added, “Please?”

Oh, no. Not the pleading. That just made saying no even harder. Eventually, he gave in. “Fine. But I’m doing it for you, not them.” He had to make sure that was clear. Wouldn’t want Jack to think he’d gone soft yet, after all.

Jack rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say.” He smiled at him. “Thanks for humoring me.”

“I’ll add it to the ‘reasons you owe me’ list,” Gabriel said, smirking at him. 

Jack laughed. His laugh was nice; hearty and full of life. He closed the door behind him.

After a few minutes of getting ready, Gabriel put his mask on and walked out of Jack’s room. Luckily, everyone must have already congregated in the dining area, because there was nobody in the halls; this allowed him to avoid any awkward encounters. The things he did for this man…

Right before he reached the dining room, he could hear lively chatter even from outside. When he entered, however, it fell silent. Several people stared at each other, and he cringed. This was already humiliating. He turned around to leave. He wasn’t strong enough. This was a terrible idea.

Before he could get out, though, Jack approached him. He looked overjoyed. “Didn’t think you’d actually come,” he said. Gabriel stared at him, unsure of how to say that he didn’t want to be here. “C’mon. I made pancakes.” Without giving Gabriel the chance to object, Jack lightly grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the table.

Well, at least his pancakes tasted good.

Jack took him to a seat at the edge of the table, where three pancakes and a cup of coffee were set up. Gabriel noted that Jack had made sure he had a plate even though he was unsure Gabriel would actually come. Something about that made it hard to keep down a smile.

Jack sat to the left of him; he had no one next to him on the right. So he wouldn’t be wedged between anyone, he assumed. Jack really knew what he needed.

Not knowing what else to do, Gabriel picked up his fork and started to eat. He saw Jack turn towards Oxton, who was seated on his left. 

“How is it?” Jack asked her, although Gabriel was fairly certain he already knew the answer, and was just trying to show off. 

Oxton finished her bite and gave him a big smile. “It’s incredible! What’s your secret?” She said, sounding genuinely mesmerized.

Jack gave her a playful grin. “If I told you that, Mama would take me out. And that’s way scarier than any war criminal.” 

Oxton laughed. The way both of them lit up a little when they were talking to each other melted Gabriel’s heart, but also gave him a hint of sadness that he no longer had any relationships like that with anyone besides Jack. He had brought that upon himself, he supposed.

He surveyed the room. Some of them looked so different. Genji didn’t have his mask on; one could see the many scars on his face, but he didn’t seem to care. In fact, he cracked jokes with the others, his clever quips always being a huge hit. A major contrast from the absolute misery he had been in before Gabriel had left. He couldn’t put his finger on why, but McCree looked more weathered and mature. Winston seemed less shy than he used to be; in fact, he was a bit loud for Gabriel’s taste. 

A lot can change in five years. Most of them seemed better off. He wished the same could be said for him.

“So, are you working on any new projects, Jack?” Brigitte said, catching Gabriel’s attention. Project?

Jack looked up at her and nodded. “Yeah. I just finished one, actually.” He nudged Gabriel. Since when did Jack do woodwork? “Could use some of your tools for my next one, actually.”

“Only if you let me fix up your vest. It must have a thousand holes in it by now,” she said, sighing.

“With how reckless he is, that’s being generous,” Ana said.

Jack shook his head in mock sadness. “I feel attacked. We can’t all be strategists, y’know.” 

“I keep telling you, you would be better off with some  _ real  _ armor!” Reinhardt said, in that typical near-shout of his. He was lucky he was endearing, because that would be extremely annoying on anyone else.

Without thinking, Gabriel added to the conversation. “He would look ridiculous, and you know it.”

Gabriel cringed, expecting a negative reaction. Everyone was probably trying to forget he was here, and now he’d reminded them. 

But the reaction didn’t come. Neither Brigitte nor Reinhardt batted an eye at him speaking. 

The conversation continued, unabated. “But aren’t I your knight in shining armor, Gabe?” Jack said, giving him a mischievous smile. 

Trying to ignore the possible romantic implications of that, Gabriel rolled his eyes, although he knew no one could see it beneath his mask. “More like my pain in the ass.” 

Jack laughed, and to Gabriel’s shock, so did Oxton. They continued to converse about something; Gabriel wasn’t really paying attention anymore, too distracted by the lack of judgment she showed him. 

Some time passed. Although Gabriel didn’t say much else, only occasionally chatting with Jack, he wasn’t directly antisocial, either. He kept his head held up, and was fine with looking at the others. He was fine with just listening. Despite coming in here with a relatively negative expectation of most of the people on base, the way Jack seemed so happy around them made it difficult to see them that way. Many of them had been his friends at one point, too; he wondered how he’d become so cynical that he even felt so judgmental of them.

He kept looking around the room; the others didn’t turn their heads away when he faced them, like he would’ve expected them to. Ana and Oxton even gave him a smile when they saw his mask pointed in their direction. There was only one person who refused to look at him: McCree. He supposed it made sense, considering all that had happened, but it still hurt to see someone he was so close to be so offended at even the sight of him. 

As they finished their breakfast, the dining room had already started to clear out. People were leaving in groups. He looked over at Jack, who had already finished a while ago, and had been waiting for him. “C’mon, slow ass,” Jack said.

Gabriel scoffed. “Not my fault you eat like a fucking black hole.”

Jack snickered at that. Gabriel gave one last look at McCree, who had started to leave. Jack must have noticed, because he got closer to Gabriel and patted him on the shoulder. “Might be mad for a while,” he said quietly, “But he’ll get over it, if you try.”

Gabriel sighed. “I doubt he’ll forgive me, Jack.” Really, he wasn’t sure why even Jack had.

Jack shook his head. “You’re such a pessimist.” Well, he wasn’t wrong. “Giving up before you even try.” Before Gabriel could think of a response, Jack wrapped an arm around his shoulder and started to walk towards the door. “Let’s go. I got something to show you.”

Secretly, Gabriel sometimes wished he could have as much faith as Jack did. It was one of the things that made him so special.

Good God, cheesy ass thoughts like that would be the death of him.

\--

The two of them walked towards Jack’s room. Jack walked quickly, to the point that it was difficult to keep up with him. What was he so eager about? He chalked it up to his type A obsession with work, while the wishful side of him wondered if he liked working together with him that much.

When Jack opened the door, he couldn’t help but feel a certain type of comfort. One familiar to him, but only from years ago; it mimicked the feeling of entering the shared quarters of him and Jack during Overwatch’s best days. The feeling of returning home.

Before Gabriel could come in, Jack stood in the doorframe. “Close your eyes.”

What the hell? “What am I, five?”

“Don’t make me regret doing this. C’mon. Do it,” Jack said, sounding more like pleading.

Technically, he could lie about closing his eyes, because Jack probably couldn’t see it through his mask. Still, he decided to indulge whatever Jack was up to. He would never admit it aloud, but this was kind of cute.

“Fine. They’re closed.” His vision went dark.

He heard Jack step inside the room, then felt him tugging on Gabriel’s arm. He walked inside. “Open.” 

When he opened his eyes, Gabriel saw an extra chair in the room. The craftsmanship was good; it looked sturdy. It was all black, with a white skull pattern on the back. “Made this for you.”

He felt his eyes widen. Maybe this gesture wasn’t that important to Jack. Gabriel wasn’t sure. But to Gabriel, it made him feel more welcome in Jack’s space than he had since their falling out. He was lucky that the mask covered his expression, because he looked  _ entirely  _ too soft at this moment for his own tastes.

Still, even if he didn’t quite show the entire depth of his response, he did at least want Jack to know he was thankful. “You made this yourself?” Jack nodded, looking proud of himself. “I fucking love it. It’s so cool.” He trailed his fingers along the pattern on the back. 

Jack gave him a big smile. “Glad you like it. Figured I’d have to make it edgy enough for even you.”

Gabriel chuckled, still eyeing Jack’s creation. He felt compelled to do something. He reached up and took off his mask, setting it down on the couch. He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt that was necessary; maybe that monk outside would have some answer about tranquility or some shit.

When he looked over at Jack, he noticed that Jack didn’t cringe at all at his appearance. In fact, he didn’t seem to register any abnormality in it. He showed no difficulty looking Gabriel in the eye. “Gonna go to my meeting with Zenyatta. You don’t have to go,” Jack said, startling Gabriel. 

Even though he was enjoying his time with Jack, he wasn’t entirely ready to go  _ that  _ far into activities with the others. “Have fun. I’ll stay here and try to work.”

Jack nodded. “See you later, Gabe,” he said, smiling at him as he left.

The minute Jack was out of the room, Gabriel became consumed with troublesome thoughts.

This had made him feel...wanted. To have Jack put in work and create something just for him, something that showed faith that he would stay. Because Jack believed in him. And he wanted Jack in return. 

Slowly, he moved towards Jack’s bed. Unable to help himself, he grabbed the blankets and smelled them, absolutely captivated by it. The warmth, along with Jack’s scent, made it feel like he was here. He wrapped himself in the blankets and cuddled the pillow; with the scent available, it was like it was Jack he was cuddling up to.

He noticed something else. A bulge in his pelvis.

Well, there went any chance of this being platonic.

Was he really about to do this? Something in him was telling him it was disrespectful, or was trying to remind him of the possibility of getting caught, but he ignored it. This feeling was too strong not to indulge, and he hadn’t felt this kind of passion for another person in so long. Since his best times with Jack, really. He had no chance of fighting it.

He removed the bottom half of his clothes. In no time, he was slowly trailing his fingers along the base on his cock, an absolutely electric feeling hitting him as thoughts of Jack filled his head. 

He sniffed the blankets again and imagined Jack on his knees in this bed. Oh God, that was nice. His ass straight up on display, cock already hard. He thought of grabbing Jack’s hips roughly and pushing himself inside.

The deep tones of Jack’s gruff voice would grunt his name as Gabriel’s cock reached all the way to his prostate; he’d palm Jack’s ass and slap it once, eliciting a yelp from the other man. He was rock-hard, pumping his dick at a faster pace. These thoughts were getting him going  _ very  _ quickly, and he had a feeling this wouldn’t last long.

He could just imagine himself pulling his cock backwards and pushing it all the way inside again, hearing the way Jack moaned. He would feel so close to Jack in that moment, placing kisses on the small of his back. Not satisfied with only getting himself off, he’d grab Jack’s cock and start to tug on it just as hard as he was to his own. He covered his mouth to keep himself from shouting, the thought of Jack’s pecs bouncing up and down as he was fucked from behind almost sending him over the edge.

He’d love to feel along Jack’s thick biceps, his tensing back muscles only turning him on further. He was close.

He imagined himself biting the side of Jack’s neck and hearing Jack gasp in response, and that was enough; he came into his own hand, a shudder going through his body. 

As he panted for a moment, allowing himself to enjoy a bit of afterglow, he panicked about the possibility of cum on the sheets. Luckily, he had almost entirely shot onto himself, and only a couple drops got onto the sheets. He’d worry about those later. Right now, he needed to gather his thoughts. And catch his breath.

After a few moments, a realization hit him: what he did was  _ fucked up.  _

Getting off to Jack’s bedding like some kind of pervert would be bad enough if they were actually together, but when Jack didn’t even know about his rekindled feelings? That was creepy as fuck. 

He sat down on the bed, trying to center himself. No need to panic. He was enough of an adult to tell Jack how he felt, right? 

He grimaced at the thought.

Maybe not.


	11. Conflict of Interest

When Jack got back to his room, it was immediately time to start working again. He had spent his session with Zenyatta pondering his feelings for Gabriel, but had come no closer to any kind of conclusion. He considered asking Zenyatta for advice, but he didn’t seem like one for romance. Maybe the Shambali even had some monk code about being celibate. 

Of course, that may have just been an excuse to not talk about the feelings to anyone, considering Genji was also right there. Something about a 50-something man fretting over his feelings like some kind of teenage girl felt embarrassing to Jack. Maybe that was why he was so bad at addressing it. Ana had always told him that men were too afraid of their own feelings. She wasn’t wrong about him, at least.

All he could do now was distract himself with work. Although that wasn’t exactly easy with Gabriel standing right there…

Gabriel sat in his chair, staring at a holo pad; when Jack came in, he looked up at him. Jack saw that he didn’t have his mask on. It may be wishful thinking, but Jack hoped that meant he was feeling more comfortable here. Whatever the reason, it allowed him to see Gabriel’s expression; at the moment, it seemed unreadable. The only hint he had was that he wasn’t meeting Jack’s eye. 

“Hey,” Jack said, sitting down next to Gabriel. He was acutely aware of the way the other man’s leg momentarily brushed against his; the skin-to-skin contact felt better than Jack would like to admit. “You find anything new?”

Sadly enough, Gabriel moved his leg almost instantly. “Oh. Uh, just this,” he said. Jack waited for him to elaborate, but he said nothing. In all honesty, it was a bit awkward, and Jack couldn’t figure out why.

Oh well. No reason to dwell on it. Instead, he scooted up to the holo pad; at the moment, Gabriel had Marion Stillwater’s website up. It looked very official, with much better formatting than many of the darker portions of the network had. The banner at the top contained his picture; he even  _ looked  _ like an incredibly bland, run-of-the-mill politician. Who would suspect what he was responsible for? 

_ Marion Stillwater, Washington Senator and former member of United Nations General Assembly, is currently raising money for his Presidential campaign! Read his platform here. _

So he did have UN connections. Jack was feeling more confident all the time that they might have found their guy. Curious, Jack clicked on the link to his platform. Most of it was very standard; boring things about economic progression and taxes that Jack had heard thousands of times before, and were usually empty promises. One thing did catch Jack’s eye, though: a heading labeled  _ Omnic Rights. _

_ Mr. Stillwater is a proud supporter of reforms related to the treatment of Omnics. The oppression of Omnics in the United States is very concerning to him. He seeks to create a better world for both Omnics and humans using peaceful methods  _ (Jack rolled at his eyes at that)  _ that can bridge the conflict between the two groups. _

_ He seeks to tackle the issue of Omnic homelessness, as well as violence towards them. He has an extensive record of promoting these causes, with a large amount of charity work related to helping disenfranchised and poor Omnics. _

Beneath that paragraph was a photo of Stillwater crouching next to a small Omnic that sat on the sidewalk; he had grabbed the Omnic’s hand with a sympathetic smile. Oh, this guy knew his PR. 

Both Jack and Gabriel looked at each other, and Jack had a feeling that Gabriel was thinking the same thing he was. “This is definitely our guy,” Jack said. Something about getting that much closer to figuring out exactly what happened in Zurich lifted a bit of weight off his shoulders. “But what do we do about it? Not like we can just go to the police.” Gabriel looked up, as if in deep thought. “We can just kick his ass,” Jack said.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “That’s just your solution for everything.” 

Jack laughed. “You got me there.” He thought about it for a moment. “We could ask the others. They might have some ideas.”

When Jack saw Gabriel frown, he got the feeling that this might end up being a fight. “Then we’d have to tell them everything.”

But Jack didn’t back down this time; he knew, even though Gabriel didn’t want to admit it, that they couldn’t do this on their own. “Why not? We didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You sure they won’t mind you hiding things from them?” Gabriel said.

Jack nodded. “They’ll understand.”  _ They understood all of my other fuck-ups.  _

Gabriel stared at him, but Jack was prepared to argue on this if he had to. Eventually, he sighed. “Fine.”

“Thanks,” Jack said, feeling a bit giddy. Gabriel didn’t look too happy about it, though. His entire body was tense, as if he could run away at any second. 

That gave Jack an idea.

“You’re so wound up,” Jack said. Gabriel looked at him, an eyebrow raised. “Want me to give you a massage?”

For some reason, Gabriel’s eyes widened at that, much more than Jack expected them to. “I don’t think…”

“Oh no,” Jack started, “You aren’t getting away that easy. You’re always so stressed, and I’m going to help you out.” Although Jack wasn’t sure his magic fingers were enough to fix the knots in a body that was half-dead, it was at least worth a shot.

It didn’t take much convincing for Gabriel to relent. He sat down on the ground, leaning over to expose his back and shoulders. “Go on, then.” He didn’t sound particularly reluctant, and Jack knew that he’d won.

Jack made his way around Gabriel and sat down on the floor behind him. At that moment, he became acutely aware of how close together they were, and realized this might have been a bad idea if he wanted to restrain any feelings.

No turning back now. Besides, Gabriel’s comfort was worth more than his childish crush.

What Jack was not prepared for was Gabriel taking his shirt off. Damn, that was nice. Even though his skin wasn’t the same color it used to be, and small traces of smoke were visible around his sides, Gabriel was still absolutely gorgeous. Seeing him like this excited Jack...in more ways than one. Better ignore that part.

With no more delay, Jack put his hands on Gabriel’s shoulders. He dug deeply in with his fingers, and heard a contended hum below him. Looks like he still had the touch.

Gabriel really was tense, possibly more tense than anyone Jack had massaged in his entire life. Even more than he had been in the most stressful days of Overwatch. Jack couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. It made sense that Gabriel felt that way, but it was a grim reminder of how much pain he must be in all the time.

“That feel good?” Jack asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to hear it from Gabriel directly. 

“God, yes,” Gabriel said, in a near moan. That sound gave Jack a feeling in his pants that he tried  _ desperately  _ to ignore. Instead, he focused on Gabriel’s comfort, working his fingers from his shoulders to the sides of his neck. 

The rhythmic sound of Gabriel’s breathing put Jack in a deep calm. It was a reminder that Gabriel was still alive, even with the way his body was now. Jack had wondered if he would ever hear that sound again. 

“Dad always liked getting a massage after working in the fields all day, and Mama taught me her technique,” Jack said. He’d already told Gabriel this before, but these nice memories were things he enjoyed bringing up. 

Slowly, the tight feeling in Gabriel’s upper body started to decrease, and Gabriel seemed to breathe more easily. “You’re such a Boy Scout,” he said, chuckling. Jack used to hate that nickname, but he found it kind of charming now. A callback to who he used to be. “Whatever it is, it fucking works.” 

Jack started to move down to Gabriel’s upper back, pressing firmly into the somewhat-greyed skin. His body did feel unusual, the skin colder than that of the average person and the bones more difficult to find, but Jack’s technique still worked in a similar way. Jack felt a smile form on his face as he looked at Gabriel, who seemed comfortable for the first time in so long. 

He wanted to always make him feel like that.

They said nothing for a few moments, and the moment felt deeply intimate; their only communication was the responses of Gabriel’s body to Jack’s touch. God, Gabriel was so beautiful. Everything about him. 

“Jack?” Gabriel said, softly enough to not break the trance. “Thanks for doing this for me. It feels really nice.”

Gabriel wore a soft smile, the kind that nobody but Jack ever got to see. It made him feel special every time. “Anytime.” He hesitated, but felt more willing to be open when with the calming sensation going through him. “I like helping you out.”

Gabriel hummed, leaning back slightly into Jack’s touch. As Jack finished working on the bottom of Gabriel’s back, he found himself compelled to wrap his arms around him. Gabriel looked back at him, but didn’t seem particularly surprised. 

Slowly, Gabriel leaned back further until he was securely in Jack’s arms. The two sat there for a moment, simply enjoying each other’s company, until he’d leaned far enough for his lips to be within reach of Jack’s. 

You know what? Fuck it. Jack was fairly certain they were past the point of no return by now, anyway.

Jack started to lean in, until their lips touched.

The kiss was delicate, Jack simply enjoying the atmosphere. However, the taste of Gabriel’s lips became impossible to resist; Jack needed more. He slowly pushed his tongue into Gabriel’s mouth, and Gabriel held the sides of Jack’s head. His tongue met Jack’s, and he emitted a small moan.

It wasn’t the most intense kiss they’d ever had. But Jack didn’t want to break the deep relaxation he was feeling, and it expressed just as much affection. They both pulled away, smiling at each other.

“Could you stay?” Gabriel asked, quietly, as if hesitant.

Jack nodded. “Nothing I wanna do more.” He chuckled.

So, they spent a long while there together, enjoying the sensations of love’s return.

\--

Sadly enough, the two did have to get up eventually. Gabriel never wanted that time to end, but at least Jack would still be here when he got up. They had spent the entire time holding each other in different positions, both giving each other occasional kisses. Absolute bliss.

Now, though, they walked through the hallway to the common area. Jack had asked the others on base to meet them there. On the way, Jack put his hand in Gabriel’s. This was a surprise; Gabriel expected Jack to not want to show their relationship yet. As if he’d be ashamed. That was just his own insecurity talking, wasn’t it?

Just as expected, everyone on base was there when they arrived. When they saw Jack, they all greeted him; there was far less widespread enthusiasm when Gabriel came into the room. Although that started to make him want to leave, Jack squeezed his hand a little tighter, and he remembered that at least  _ someone  _ thought he belonged here.

Jack sat down on a chair in front of the others, and Gabriel sat with him. None of them looked like they knew what was going on; several of them gave Jack and Gabriel quizzical looks. Jack cleared his throat, and everyone turned towards him.

“Guys, I got something to tell you,” Jack started. He visibly hesitated. “Me and Gabe” -- it was nice to be included in that -- “Have been working on something, and we need your help.” He took a deep breath. “Remember when I talked about those Technological Fairness Division people?”

Genji nodded. “Yes. You never followed up on that much, so I assumed it was a dead end.”

Jack looked away; Gabriel could sense that he felt a bit ashamed, probably for not telling the others sooner. Keeping secrets wasn’t nearly as much in Jack’s nature as it was in Gabriel’s. “I didn’t want you guys to get hurt ‘cause you got roped into my bullshit. Sorry for not telling you.”

“We wanna help you, Dad,” Lena said.

Winston nodded. “Your safety matters to us, too. If you got hurt, who would keep us in line?” He chuckled.

Jack grinned at him. “True.” This was a reminder to Gabriel of what having genuinely supportive friends was like - after years of being surrounded by so much hate and such awful people, Gabriel had trouble conceptualizing it on his own. 

“We’ll be by your side anytime, y’know,” McCree said. He still wouldn’t look in Gabriel’s direction.

“Thanks,” Jack said, sounding relieved. “Anyway, this is our situation. We’ve been trying to figure out who blew up the base in Zurich.” Gabriel noticed that Jack still shook slightly when he mentioned it. “Long story short, we think we found our guy. But we don’t know how to take him out.” 

“Can’t you just kick his ass?” McCree asked. 

Jack pointed at him. “See, that’s what I said!”

Gabriel rolled his eyes and continued where Jack left off. They were  _ not  _ going down this road. “Even if we kick his ass, he still has a whole conspiracy behind him. It’s not going to accomplish anything.”

Nobody in the room said anything for a moment, all seeming deep in thought, until Lena spoke up. “Wait. Overwatch has international influence. If we can get some proof and back up what you guys say, we might be able to convince the whole world of what this guy did!” It didn’t take much for her to become optimistic, did it?

Gabriel thought about it. “Our case wouldn’t hold up in court.”

“So we just need to get more evidence!” Lena said. “What about something on video?”

“We have recording technology we can put right into your jacket,” Winston said. “It won’t be visible at all.”

It was so simple. “Wearing a wire. Both of us have done it a thousand times,” Gabriel said.

“You think it’ll work?” Jack asked. 

If Gabriel was honest, he was skeptical. But he decided not to ruin everyone else’s excitement. 

While most of the others were chatting in various levels of enthusiasm, Gabriel felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Instinct made him whip around; he didn’t like to be touched from behind by anyone other than Jack.

He saw that it was McCree. 

“C’mere with me,” McCree said, starting to walk out the door.

As little of a desire as he had to be chewed out, he decided to go along with it. He’d get insulted just as badly if he didn’t. “Be back in a sec,” he said to Jack, quietly. Jack looked confused, but nodded.

He slipped out the door behind McCree; the others didn’t seem to notice. Once the door was closed behind Gabriel, McCree turned around towards him.

“You and Morrison are a thing now, aren’tcha?” He said. There wasn’t much anger in his tone, but it still made him feel like he was being confronted.

Even though it was a bit uncomfortable, Gabriel nodded. “Yeah.” He wasn’t prepared to back down, though. “Is that an issue?”

McCree chuckled. “Y’know, you could go five minutes without bein’ sassy.” He couldn’t tell if the grin McCree wore was bitter or genuine. “Look. If you make him happy, then good.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “You took me out here just to say that?”

“Nah,” McCree said. He took a drag from his cigar; evidently, that habit was still in full force. “Y’can probably tell I haven’t been warm towards you.” Gabriel nodded. “I just don’t like how you can hurt and lie to us, then just waltz back into our lives. D’you really think that’s fair?”

Gabriel looked away. “I don’t want you to lecture me.”

McCree laughed. “You never have, huh?” He shook his head. “I’m kinda shocked, though. You’ve been behaving yourself pretty good.” Another drag. “Listen. Just want you to know that I don’t forgive you yet, but I’m not gonna interfere with you lovebirds. If you treat him right, I’ll leave you be.”

Gabriel considered telling McCree that he didn’t need his approval, but decided that being argumentative wouldn’t accomplish anything. Was that progress? “For the record, I didn’t forget about you.” That seemed to catch McCree’s attention. “I was fighting for you, too. To get back at them for what they did to  _ all  _ of us.”

McCree put his hands in his pockets, looking at the sky. “Hard to trust you still, but I’ll keep that in mind.”

Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Then, McCree added, “Just...don’t hurt him, y’hear?”

Gabriel nodded. That was a request he could fulfill. “I won’t. Promise.”

“Better live up to that promise, or I’ll find a way to kill you for real.” He searched for any hint of that being a joke and found none. After taking one more drag of his cigar, he threw it down and stepped on it. He walked towards Gabriel and patted him on the back. “C’mon, boss. They’re waitin’ for us.”

Gabriel decided to follow him, and the two walked through the door.

Hopefully to a better future.

\--

Gabriel and Jack were both in Jack’s bed. It really wasn’t big enough for two, but he’d be damned if he didn’t get that close contact. He’d already been without it for years. 

This was the most comfortable Gabriel had felt in a very long time. Jack had already fallen asleep, and Gabriel enjoyed seeing him be so peaceful. Unfortunately, their moment was interrupted by a call on Jack’s holo pad. God, that ringing was fucking annoying. His ringtone was some dad rock song; Gabriel kept that in mind so he could make fun of him for it later.

“Who the hell could that be this late at night?” Jack asked, sounding groggy. 

Gabriel walked over to it; the caller ID was a jumbled mass of letters and numbers. Useless technology. “Should I answer?”

“I guess,” Jack said. “If it’s just some ad, I’m going to find them and destroy them myself,” he grumbled.

He pressed the button to accept the call. The person on the other side of the screen was one he’d never met physically, but would recognize anywhere: a lanky Omnic with gold eyes, in a corny black suit.

Conway Harper.

Jack instantly shot out of bed, rage on his face. “Why the hell are you calling me?”

Conway seemed unphased by his outburst, but who could tell with the expressionless Omnic faces? “Greetings, gentlemen. I am here to discuss our conflict in a peaceful manner, and hopefully reach a conclusion that will satisfy us both.”

“Like hell,” Jack said in a near shout. “You associate with the people that destroyed everything I love. I’ve got nothing to say to you that isn’t calling you a dick.”

Jack started to move to hang up; Gabriel put his hand on Jack’s. “Wait. Let’s be strategic here,” he whispered in Jack’s ear. “He might tell us something useful.”

Jack didn’t look certain, but he didn’t hang up, either. “You better say something really damn convincing,” Jack said.

“I will try my best,” Conway said. He sounded sincere rather than mocking. There was a certain earnest quality to his tone. “I grew up idolizing the both of you. I do not want either of you to be killed.”

“Gee, thanks,” Jack said, rolling his eyes.

Conway ignored his snark. “I would like you to understand my point of view.” He took a deep breath (or whatever the Omnic equivalent of that was). “You may think of me as nothing but evil. But you must consider that my people have been killed and oppressed for so long, and  _ continue  _ to be killed and oppressed.”

Jack stood his ground. “That doesn’t mean you have to blow up buildings and ruin or end lives.”

“Let me explain it this way,” Conway started. “When you fight Omnics, are you not also ruining or ending lives by destroying them? Have you considered that many of those Omnics had family and friends?” (Gabriel was tempted to add that technically Omnics couldn’t have biological family, but he kept that technicality to himself).

“Well…” Jack said, biting his lip. “Yeah. I know. And I feel bad for it.”

“I am sorry to hear that. Perhaps we can reach a conclusion, then?” Conway said, sounding genuinely hopeful.

Jack hesitated. “I don’t want to cooperate with you. But do you get it now? I want to help Omnics, too.”

“Liar,” Conway said, tone turning dark.

Jack stared at the screen. “What? I’m not lying---”

“Yes, you are!” Conway cut him off. He looked down, casting a shadow over his face. “Do you remember what happened at King’s Row? How many Omnic lives were lost there based on  _ your  _ orders?” Conway’s earlier composure was completely gone now.

“What was I supposed to do?!” Jack fired back; this topic had never been an easy one for him, either. “It was between both Omnics and humans dying, or only Omnics dying. Do you think I don’t hate myself for those choices already?!”

“Why do you pretend to care about us?!” Conway shouted, to the point that Gabriel wondered if this would wake the others up. “We believed in you, Jack Morrison. We believed you wanted to save us from our pain. We believed you had a good heart, even if you had made mistakes. And you betrayed us. You killed the people that were important to us because all you ever cared about were human lives.”

“I am  _ not  _ going to be lectured on morality from someone who helped cause an explosion that killed hundreds of people!” Jack said. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

Gabriel had heard enough. He touched his hand to Jack’s, lightly gripping it. “We’re not getting anywhere with this. If you don’t have anything else to convince us with, then just hang up.”

“Do you know why your base has not already been attacked?” Conway said. Neither of them responded. “It is because I cannot bring myself to kill people in Overwatch. Overwatch was the inspiration of my young life. It made me want to create a better world. I do not want that to be destroyed. Even after all of the pain you have caused to myself and others, I cannot bring myself to end your lives.”

Jack snorted. “Do you want a trophy for not being an awful person?”

Conway said nothing for a moment; a small sheet went over each golden eye, as if he had eyelids. When they were uncovered, he said, “I apologize for wasting your time.” 

With that, he instantly hung up.

Jack was still shaking, wearing a severe glare. Slowly, though, it turned to a frown. 

“Jack? Are you OK?” Gabriel asked, putting his hands on top of Jack’s back.

“You know, sometimes I think of myself like that, too,” Jack said. “I think about all of the people I’ve hurt in my life, Omnic and human. It makes me hate myself.” Gabriel noticed tears starting to fall down his cheeks. “Gabe, am I just a bad person?”

Instantly, Gabriel pulled Jack into a hug. “No. Don’t let him get to you,” he said. Jack clung tightly to Gabriel, who patted him on the back. He got closer to Jack’s ear. “You did everything you could,” he said, quietly. 

He couldn’t stop himself from feeling resentment towards this Conway guy for making Jack cry.

After what felt like both a while and not nearly long enough, Jack let go. He walked towards his desk and picked up the orb Gabriel had seen him with before. “Need some time with this. Hope you don’t mind,” Jack said.

It killed Gabriel that he couldn’t make Jack’s pain go away on his own, but he knew that it wasn’t possible. Jack had already tried that on him plenty of times. 

Jack sat at his desk, holding the orb close to his body. Whatever it was doing, Jack only cried for a few more moments. He took a couple deep breaths, then put the orb down. 

Gabriel came to Jack. “Did that help?”

Jack nodded, face still red. “Yeah. But...can you hold me tonight? It’d help me get to sleep.” He looked away when he asked.

Gabriel gave him a small smile. “Hell yeah. Sounds great.”

Jack smiled back, resting his head on Gabriel’s shoulder. 

They climbed into bed, and Jack clung to Gabriel more tightly than usual. Gabriel kissed Jack’s forehead, and Jack fell asleep quickly. 

If only he could think of himself the way Gabriel thought of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had to take a week off updating because writer's block Be Like That, so i'm happy to be back!


	12. Told You They'd Fuck Eventually

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just a warning, this chapter is shorter than the others. it's straight-up porn, so...enjoy that.

The next morning, Gabriel woke up to Jack still in bed, staring at the ceiling. Poor guy was probably still hurting. 

Gabriel wrapped his arms around Jack from behind, who stirred at the contact. Jack was in only his underwear, and the feeling of his skin on Gabriel’s gave him a bit of pleasure. Something about it felt intimate. “You OK?” Gabriel asked.

It took a moment for Jack to respond, his movements still sluggish. “Yeah. I guess.” Gabriel didn’t believe that, but he let it slide this time. Jack turned over, looking him in the eye with a goofy smile. “Nice to have you here.”

Gabriel scoffed. “Corny old man.” Jack let out a chuckle at that, and Gabriel kissed the top of Jack’s forehead.

Jack was a bit more bold; he kissed Gabriel on the lips, wrapping his arms around the other man’s waist. The kiss started out chaste, but Gabriel decided to deepen it, holding Jack closer and pushing his tongue in his mouth. Jack reciprocated, gripping his waist more securely. 

Fuck it, Gabriel needed to feel everything. Needed to re-learn every bit of Jack’s body that he’d been without for years. He needed to know anything that had changed, as well as revisit the familiar features. The broad back funneling down to smaller legs, his large hands, the feeling of Gabriel’s lips meeting stubble, and every other part that made Jack’s body so incredible, both to look at and experience. 

If Gabriel was honest, the feeling of Jack’s muscles was making his cock start to stand at attention.

As he worked his hands down the front of Jack’s torso, feeling his toned abs, he reached his pelvis, and noticed something: Jack was hard, too.

He looked up at Jack. “You ready?”

Jack’s only response was a nod.

That was all Gabriel needed.

He gripped the waistband of Jack’s boxers and pulled them down with haste. Maybe he was just a  _ bit  _ impatient. He’d been without this for five god damn years.

With no clothes on, it became clear that Jack was just as excited as he was, his cock pointing straight up. Gabriel tried not to rush, but dear  _ God  _ did that look tempting. He licked his lips, delicately brushing a hand over the head, feeling Jack shiver at the touch. 

“Sorry,” Jack said. “Haven’t done this in a while.”

“Hey, as long as you can still get it up, it’s fine,” Gabriel said. Jack rolled his eyes. Even at risk of killing the mood, Gabriel couldn’t resist prodding Jack about his age. It was just always so fun.

Back to business. He removed his own underwear and tossed them away. He’d worry about where the hell they went later; there was a much more pressing matter at hand. 

Without a word of warning, Jack pulled Gabriel down and kissed him hard, holding onto the back of his head. The kiss was intense enough that he could barely breathe, but he didn’t give a fuck right now. 

Jack pulled away, leaving Gabriel disappointed. Without getting up, he reached a hand into a drawer next to the bed and pulled out a small tube of lubricant.

“Always prepared,” Jack said, smirking.

“That’s my Boy Scout,” Gabriel said, kissing the top of his head.

Jack handed the tube to Gabriel; he squeezed some onto his finger. Jack lay down on his back, legs open, all ready for the taking. Gabriel grinned at the sight. God, he missed this. 

Deliberately moving slowly, Gabriel pushed the tip of his finger into Jack’s hole. He was definitely not lying about the delay since he’d last done this. He was much tighter than he’d ever been during any other time they had sex. That would just make it even better later. 

He felt Jack’s hole clench, and the other man cringed. It didn’t take long for the resistance to end, though, and Gabriel was able to push the sides of Jack’s walls open. He tried his best to be gentle, but temptation was coursing through him, and he wanted to push his cock inside right there. No, be patient. It’ll be better in the end.

As he pushed his finger further, he heard Jack grunt, and his breathing pick up. Jack was always so sensitive, and it turned Gabriel the fuck on. Jack’s cock was fully hard by now.

Ah, fuck it. Sensuality was overrated. He was having trouble holding back. So, he poured lube onto a second finger, working it into the small space. As he reached further inside, he heard Jack groan, and his entire body tensed.

“Looks like I found the spot,” Gabriel said. It felt like a victory for him.

Jack glared at him. “Don’t tease me, asshole.” 

Gabriel chuckled and kissed Jack’s forehead. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

He felt Jack’s hands trail up his body, grip tighter than before. He put his hand on Gabriel’s chest, looking up at him with pure adoration. Adorable.

Watching Jack open up for him made Gabriel hard as a rock, and he couldn’t hold back from putting a third finger into Jack’s hole, pushing directly towards his prostate. Jack gripped Gabriel’s shoulders, a small moan escaping his mouth. Oh, that was absolutely beautiful.

No more time to delay. He pulled his fingers out of Jack, who looked slightly disappointed, until he started rubbing the tip of his cock on Jack’s opening. The contact was already making him leak precum, and Jack was doing the same. 

He’d used a sufficient amount of stretch, and he got his cock inside with relative ease. As he made his way through his hole, Jack outright squeaked, the sound making Gabriel groan and grit his teeth. 

He began thrusting, moving back and forth at a fast pace. His desperation showed in every movement, and he moaned at Jack’s hole tightening around him, sweat dripping down his forehead. Jack was panting and muttering curses under his breath.

As Gabriel increased his speed, pulling further in and out with each push, he said, “Fuck, Jack, you’re so hot.”

Instead of responding verbally, Jack pulled Gabriel’s head down and kissed him, inserting his tongue directly into Gabriel’s mouth. 

Gabriel pulled in and out, balls slapping against Jack’s ass, and the kiss captured every moan the two of them made. With a bit of difficulty controlling his motions, Gabriel moved his hands to Jack’s cock, stroking it. Jack released him from the kiss and threw his head back onto the pillow, nails digging into Gabriel’s back. Gabriel was close, and judging by the way his hole tightened around Gabriel’s cock, Jack was as well. 

Gabriel reached his head down and bit into the side of Jack’s neck. Just to mark his territory. The pain seemed to only encourage Jack, who closed his eyes, face looking strained. 

He felt Jack push his ass down further onto Gabriel’s cock with each thrust; seeing Jack so thoroughly submit to him like this made it impossible to control himself. He gripped Jack’s cock, his motions sloppy as he tugged on it, drawing out Gabriel’s name from his lips.

With a shout of Jack’s name, Gabriel bared his teeth and came, feeling his cum fill Jack’s ass. With a few final strokes, Jack grabbed onto Gabriel and came as well, streaks of white coming out of his cock. Gabriel pulled out, and both of them panted as their orgasms slowly finished, enjoying the onset of afterglow.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Jack said, after catching his breath a bit.

“You came all over me,” Gabriel said. “This is gonna be hard to clean off.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Do you always have to find a way to bitch about everything?” After saying that, though, he laughed, rubbing the top of Gabriel’s head. Gabriel kissed his cheek, both of them smiling at each other.

“We should get up,” Gabriel said, smile not fading.

Jack groaned. “The world can wait. I’m comfortable. Four more hours.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Who am I to say no to such a convincing argument?”

Both of them laughed, and Jack pulled Gabriel in closer. Jack’s hold was tight; protective, even. As if Gabriel could get away from him at any moment. Gabriel understood why he felt that way, all things considered, and resolved to do his best to make Jack feel as comfortable with their relationship as he possibly could. A future they could still build together.

He looked over at Jack’s face; he looked like he was in absolute bliss. Part of that could be chalked up to afterglow, but Gabriel liked to think that the rekindling of their relationship was a major part of it, too. At least, he hoped Jack felt that way, because the feeling was mutual. He wasn’t sure how the hell he’d ever let this get away.

As they held onto each other, Gabriel felt a sense of security that he thought had left him long ago.


	13. Convictions

Jack looked over at the clock. He must have fallen asleep, because it was significantly later than it had been since they had sex.

God, the sex. Absolutely incredible, in every way. Just as good as he remembered; in fact, with the joy of getting Gabriel back and how much he missed those sensations, it might have been even better.

“Wake up,” he said, lightly shaking Gabriel. “We got work to do.”

Gabriel grunted something, but started to get up. 

By then, it was almost noon. He couldn’t help staying in bed so late; the bed was comfortable, and Gabriel’s arms even more so. 

Unfortunately, Gabriel put his mask back on before they got out the door. Something felt off about that barrier around people Jack considered trusted friends, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to convince Gabriel to take it off. Anytime soon, at least. 

As Jack walked through the hall, with Gabriel lagging behind, he encountered Lena.

“You two sleepyheads missed breakfast!” She said; it felt strange to be scolded by someone half his age. “We were just talking about the plan. You have that crazy guy’s address, right?”

“Yeah,” Jack said, “And he’s evil, not crazy. It’d be way easier if he was crazy.”

No, Jack had dealt with these political mastermind types before; they were very calm and measured, as well as extremely intelligent. That was how they both appealed to people and got away with awful things. He had met damn near a thousand of them during his time as Strike Commander.

Lena nodded. It was sweet how impressed she always looked when he gave her information. The admiration was palpable. He didn’t think he deserved it, but he appreciated it all the same.

“Whatever it is, we’ve got the wire prepared. Winston doesn’t like when you call it that, though. He says it’s way more sophisticated than a wire,” she said, giggling.

Gabriel scoffed. “Didn’t know the monkey had such a high opinion of himself.” Jack elbowed him, causing him to recoil slightly. If Jack had to re-train Gabriel to not be rude from step one, he was willing to.

Jack noticed Lena frowning. “He’s just kidding. Right?” He said, glaring at Gabriel.

Gabriel grumbled, “Yeah, yeah,” which seemed to satisfy Lena, as she walked away.

Although Gabriel might have wanted to argue with Jack after she left, he didn’t get the chance to, because the two of them reached the common area. Winston and McCree were waiting for them. Winston clearly perked up when he saw Jack, then deflated slightly when Gabriel came into view. Looks like not every conflict was even close to solved.

McCree, on the other hand, gave them a grin, tipping his hat upwards. “Ah, yes, the lovebirds are finally here.” He made a kissing face, along with lip puckering sound effects. Jack rolled his eyes. Was he five?

Winston cleared his throat. “The device is ready.” He handed a small chip to Jack. “Stick it to your jacket. It has an adhesive, so you won’t have to hold it up, and you can put it wherever you want. The technology won’t just record; it also transfers all of the audio directly into files on the computers on base,” Winston said, sounding proud of himself. Whatever Gabriel said, Jack found his excitement over his own technology to be charming. “It scans all around you, so it doesn’t have to be pointing right at your target, either.”

Jack stared at the chip, marveling at how such a small object could do so much. “That’s actually pretty cool,” Jack said, turning the chip around. Winston beamed at him; it brought a smile to Jack’s face, even as Gabriel crossed his arms beside him. Maybe if he didn’t indulge Gabriel’s pettiness, he’d behave himself a bit better.

As Jack turned around, though, Gabriel snuck up on him, lifted his mask halfway up, and gave Jack a kiss on the cheek. Jack smirked at him. “Butter me up all you want, I won’t let you get away with being rude.”

“But that was the most fun part of being evil,” he whined. “Is it too late to go back?”

“Yes,” Jack said. “You’re a good guy now. Deal with it.”

He would have sacrificed so much to get this banter back.

Jack put his arm around Gabriel, and he heard McCree snickering in the background; Jack shot him a glare. Maybe he was ‘team dad’ because everyone else on this base was a child.

Jack put the chip on his jacket, in a place on his side that was relatively hard to see, and the two of them started towards the door. Winston and McCree both waved goodbye at them.

“You ready to take this asshole down?” Gabriel said.

Was he? Most people would probably be nervous right now, but Jack felt more invigorated than ever. Five years of searching, and part of it was finally coming to fruition. His only regret was having to use strategic means instead of just beating the guy up; Jack’s fist in his face would feel incredible.

Still, he would take what he could get.

“Yeah,” Jack said, looking straight ahead. “Let’s go win this war.”

\--

Marion Stillwater’s house wasn’t quite as extravagant as Reginald’s, but it was still much larger than the average person’s. More than he would ever need, as far as Jack was concerned. 

Breaking in was easy, even with a security guard at the front door. All it required was jumping the fence and forcing open one of the back doors, which was nothing for two super soldiers. As awful and morally wrong as it was, SEP really did make his life easier.

The inside of the house was essentially one massive ego trip; it was filled with trophies and photos of Stillwater meeting with high-ranking officials. Jack wished he could have met him before so he could’ve punched that slimy asshole in the face.

A walk across porcelain floors led them past walls containing pictures of people Jack had almost made the mistake of trusting. Gabriel had been right about all of them. He almost said that aloud, until he remembered that they were supposed to be stealthy here. Instead, he gave Gabriel a look that hopefully implied ‘I’m sorry’; Gabriel nodded at him.

Right. This was his second chance. 

As they reached the end of the hallway, Jack saw a door that was slightly ajar. He pointed at it. Something about this felt too easy, but Jack had a feeling they were going to wander into a trap no matter what they did, anyway.

“This trap is way too obvious,” Gabriel whispered to Jack.

“Yeah, but we can take ‘em,” Jack said.

“Of course you’d say that.” He could just sense Gabriel’s eyes rolling beneath that mask.

Jack decided to take charge. Rushing straight into danger and somehow still surviving was his biggest talent. Why not flex his ability a bit?

He opened the door. The room was some kind of office, with a desk in the back and books lining shelves on the left side of the room. There was a door on the right that presumably led to another room; another possible place to investigate.

More importantly than that, though, was the person sitting behind the desk: Stillwater, with Conway standing next to him.

The man got up from the chair, approaching Jack and Gabriel. Even the way he walked felt smarmy. He reached his hand out; Jack slapped it downwards. He was in no mood for pleasantries.

Stillwater chuckled. “I see Soldier 76 is just as rude as ever.”

“To people that blow up buildings and kill hundreds of people? Yeah, I’m not nice to them,” Jack growled. A part of him was scared to face the man who’d ruined his life, but for the most part, he just felt hatred. Deeper than he’d ever felt for anyone.

He wagged a finger. “Ah, but I didn’t blow up anything. Don’t you see? That was the Omnics fighting your oppression.”

“But you’re the one that gave the order,” Gabriel said; he seemed much more collected than Jack. This was the kind of situation he was always better with.

He shook his head. “Reyes, I thought you of all people would understand. Sometimes, you do what you must for the greater good.”

Instead of responding to him directly, Gabriel turned towards Conway. “You. Omnic.” Conway’s head jerked upwards, as if he was surprised to have been acknowledged at all. “Do you really think this guy cares about your cause?” Conway immediately turned his head away. “You remind me of someone else I know. You believe so much in your ideals that you’ll turn a blind eye to people using you.” Gabriel’s mask pointed at Jack.

If he wasn’t occupied at the moment, that might have given Jack an existential crisis.

“I…” Conway started. The sheets above his eyes closed. “We believed in Overwatch…” He trailed off, then looked at Stillwater. “Mr. Stillwater, perhaps we should listen to them.”

Stillwater glared at him. “Enough of this.” He pressed a button on the desk.

That was the last warning they got before Omnics began marching into the room from the side door. 

Although Jack tried to prepare himself for battle, the Omnics were too fast, and they knocked him down. 

Conway looking away was the last thing he saw before he blacked out.


	14. Conway

My name is Conway Harper. 

I learn that on a rainy September day. The man who assembled me wipes sweat off his brow, beaming at both me and another Omnic he had built. He informs me that her name is Sandra.

His name is Mr. Harper, but he insists I call him Fred. Curious as to my purpose, I ask him what unit I am; he refuses to tell me, saying that I should be viewed as a sentient and independent being, rather than a machine created for a purpose. Out of respect for his wishes, I still have not learned my unit number.

The three of us live on a farm in rural Washington, in a location so remote that it does not have a name. Sandra (who I think of as my sister, despite not having blood relations) and I help Fred work the fields. He insists that all of us are equals. We have all of the amenities that a human would; food, our own warm beds, a roof to live under, and even a say in how the fields are run. Instead of his Omnics, he refers to us as his partners.

He is a kindly man. He built us at the age of 61, saying he did not have enough energy at his age to tend to the farm himself. Despite this, he refuses to move to the city; I notice terror in his voice at the thought. He tells us this is his compromise. Although he does not say it aloud, I suspect Fred was also very lonely here alone, and he needed some company.

I like Fred very much.

Although Omnics do not age in the way that humans do, I think of my time on the farm as my childhood. This is where I learn the basics of the world, and develop my first relationships.

My sister and I become close almost immediately. She is headstrong, with a fiery spirit, but with a level of kindness and empathy. I wish I could be as strong as her.

My time on the farm is also when I learn of the suffering Omnics go through. The Omnic Crisis had ended by the time I was created, but it had only been over for approximately 15 years. I learn that such a period of time is barely anything in terms of societal progression.

Fred expresses that he does not understand why humans treat Omnics the way they do. According to him, every sentient creature deserves respect, and Omnics are clearly sentient. As much as I hear of human oppression, it is difficult for me to conceptualize it; the only human I know personally has been nothing but kind to me.

One day, we watch a news broadcast of a human killing a small group of Omnics. It is tragic, and difficult to watch. I ask Fred if things will ever get better for Omnics, and he says something that has never left my mind since:

“Conway, if you wanna change the world, you gotta do it yourself. If everyone waited for it to just get better on its own, it would always be the same.”

Evidently, Sandra is inspired by this line of thinking. The next day, she asks me to watch a speaker hosting a session on Omnic oppression. Although I am hesitant to get involved, she convinces me; she is truly difficult to say no to.

Fred approves of our decision, and allows us to take his car to a nearby town. 

We arrive at the function, and I notice that there are only a few humans there. For the most part, it is only other Omnics. 

The speaker is instantly captivating. I never even learn his name, yet he sticks with me for the rest of my life. He discusses the Omnic Crisis, as well cases of humans killing Omnics in recent years. The accounts become graphic, such as one of an Omnic being ripped to pieces by a mob when she was only trying to protect a young girl whose family she had served for years. 

He discusses the legal rights of Omnics, as well, and I am appalled by some of the deficiencies I learn of. At that time, Omnics could not even vote; I had never considered voting myself, as I had lived an apolitical life, but it still seems unacceptable to me.

The inspiration the speaker gave to me is nothing compared to what he gave Sandra. She begins to go into town more often, and comes back in an obviously spirited mood.

“Don’t you see, Conway?” She tells me. “This stuff is so horrible. We need to fight back.”

I agree, but do not join her. 

One night, the most terrifying night of that part of my life, she comes home with several holes in her metal coating.

“What happened to you?!” I recall the panic in my voice.

She, however, seems much calmer than me. “A gang of humans went after us. Those assholes got us by surprise. We chased them off, and nobody got hurt too bad. I’m fine.”

After so many peaceful years, that is the first time in my life that I feel true fear. I know she will refuse if I ask her to stop participating in this for her safety, but I cannot let her get hurt again without me anywhere nearby to help her. 

So, I tell her I would like to participate myself.

She is elated, and shows me the small group of Omnics that she has gathered so far. I am not as talented at community organizing as she is. I do my best to at least have positive interactions with the group; although I am a bit more shy than she is, I do manage to develop decent relationships in the group we have established. I grow a stronger connection with my people, but still feel a bit hesitant to invest myself as much as Sandra has.

Unfortunately, the inevitable comes a few years later. Fred begins to become severely ill, but he staunchly refuses to go to the hospital.

“It’s my time, Conway,” he says. “You don’t fight the will of the universe.”

We do everything we can to help him, but in the end, we simply do not have the technology to extend his life much further. 

“What will we do without you, Fred?” I ask; I remember how my entire body shakes at the concept of being without him. He has become such a mainstay in my life; the man who raised me, showed me unlimited kindness, and helped teach me everything I know. Life without him seems like something impossible, something that I could never achieve.

He places a hand on my cheek; I can tell by the trembling of his arm that he has very little strength left. “Y’keep fighting. Be strong. I can’t be here forever, but I’ll always be watchin’ you.” If Omnics could cry, I would certainly be doing so at this point. “I love you two like my own family, ‘cause you _are_ family. You’re full-fledged people. Don’t ever let anyone treat you different.”

Those are the last words he says to me; by the end of the night, he is gone.

I am stricken by grief, unable to leave the property for many days. I attempt to maintain the farm, but every time I pick up equipment, I feel sick. Everything reminds me of Fred, and the fact that he is no longer in my life, and never will be again. I suspect Sandra has a similar viewpoint. The fields begin to fall into disrepair. 

We hold the funeral ourselves, as he has no relatives alive, and no friends to speak of. Lowering his body into the ground is one of the worst moments of my life. Sandra and I hold each other; the only way we can find any solace. 

Eventually, Sandra makes an executive decision: we will take Fred’s car and leave the farm permanently. The crops are mostly dead, and the entire property has become a prison of grief and suffering. I deny this at first, but quickly am swayed; perhaps because it is the right decision, or perhaps because she is very convincing. Either way, in hindsight, it was the best idea; neither of us could accomplish anything while we were trapped there, and we were about to have an eventful future.

We take what funds we have and rent a motel. It is trashy, to say the least, but neither of us are particularly accustomed to luxury. It will do.

Although a part of me still wishes to stew in depression, Sandra has no such plans. She instantly re-starts work on community organizing. The Omnics in our group come to our motel more often, and I am eventually swayed into interacting with them. I remember one Omnic, who simply referred to herself as 35, telling me that Fred would want us to keep fighting.

As I recall Fred’s final conversation with me, I realize she is right. Although it is very difficult to carry on, I know I must do so. For Fred’s honor.

Time goes on, and I become more connected to my identity as an Omnic. I research Omnic history on my own; I continue to be shocked at the abuses humans extend towards us. While it is harder to blame them for their actions during the Omnic Crisis, as they were in direct danger, the crimes committed afterwards on the innocent are unforgivable. 

Our group grows in size, until one day Sandra suggests we expand to become a full activist organization, jointly led by her and myself, under a new name: the Technological Fairness Division. 

It is a rousing and almost immediate success. Omnics from around the area begin to join our cause, coming to meetings and inviting others that they know. Our membership expands to over 1,000, then over 5,000. We buy a larger property and make it our organization’s official building, where all of the operations are handled. It is the most grandiose thing I have done in my life at that point.

I tend to focus more on building up our base with advertisements and outreach, as well as maintaining paperwork and data collection, while Sandra focuses on heavier ‘action’. I am not fully aware of what she does, and I do not wish to ask, especially after I see an increase in Omnic attacks on humans in the news.

Whatever she is doing, Sandra certainly becomes more radicalized. Although she is not among the crowd that wishes for all humans to be killed, she advocates that ‘the ends justify the means’. I do not agree with this. I think that it is best to find common ground with humans, and to cause as little harm to them as possible. I argue that while self-defense is necessary when directly attacked, violence should be a last resort. 

This disagreement causes a bit of a rift between Sandra and I; she continues not to inform me of the actions she takes, and Omnic attacks only increase further. I am handed disturbing data about injuries and casualties sustained by some members of the organization. I do not wish for anyone to die in this process, human or Omnic. Yet, for the sake of our relationship, I ask as few questions as possible. I do not want to know the answers.

Around this time, Omnics in the group begin to speak more often about the organization known as Overwatch. Many express contempt for them, calling them oppressors, but I vehemently disagree. When I watch the speeches of Jack Morrison, and take in the compassion of both his eyes and his tone of voice, I detect that he wants the best for all of us.

He becomes a symbol of admiration for myself, and an inspiration for my own activities. I keep Overwatch-related posters in my room. Although Sandra disapproves, agreeing that Overwatch does not care for Omnics, I believe that us and Overwatch are working for a common goal. A mission to obtain peace and equality. I see the way Overwatch takes down corrupt organizations and argues against ones that have caused harm to Omnics, and I am sure that they care for us.

Around this time, Sandra tells me that she wishes to introduce me to someone. If they are important enough that she does not attempt to hide them from me, they must have a major use to our cause.

That is how I meet Marion Stillwater. He gives off a certain kind and understanding air, as he discusses with us about how he wholeheartedly supports our cause, and wants to partner with our organization. Although Sandra controls most of the discussion, I do chip in, and find myself drawn to the air of Mr. Stillwater. He inspires a certain confidence in me.

Stillwater is another person that expresses disdain for Overwatch. I ignore his misgivings, even though he makes several attempts to convince me that they are an inherently harmful organization.

Although I hoped an official partnership may make illicit activities among the Division decrease, they seem to only get worse. I hear of cases of extortion, kidnapping, and bribery, all done in the name of our cause. They are becoming much harder to ignore. I confront Sandra about this; it leads to an argument. She believes that some actions are necessary, but denies the existence of the more extreme ones. For the first time, I am positive that she is lying to me.

News of the existence of Blackwatch comes out. I am not particularly phased by this, but Mr. Stillwater seems quite excited. He says it is a good time to undermine Overwatch, and eventually lead to its destruction. I am completely opposed to this, and refuse to participate. To Sandra’s credit, she does support me on this initially. However, she brings it up again in the future; my answer remains the same, and she clearly becomes frustrated with me.

I look to my poster of Jack Morrison and wonder: what would he do in this situation? How does he handle leadership, even when it leads to disagreement with those he loves? I wish there is a way he could answer me.

I hold onto my relationship with Sandra as desperately as I can, despite our viewpoints beginning to differ. I simply cannot condone the level of violence that has occurred in the name of our organization. While we are still somewhat small, we do have a decent amount of power in the Pacific Northwest, and our actions are leading to more injuries (and worse, which I do not like to think about) than I can support.

Then, a day comes that changes my life forever.

Sandra comes to me with urgent news, seeming very excited. Apparently there is some kind of uprising in London, among an Omnic group known as Null Sector. Sandra wants to be there to support the rebellion. The situation sounds extremely dangerous, and I attempt to convince her otherwise, but she refuses to listen. So, just like how all of this began, I accompany her for the purpose of her protection.

When we reach London, I find that it is an absolute mess. Property is destroyed, fires are occurring, and I see many broken Omnic parts on the ground. I know there are likely human casualties as well that have been moved out of the area. Both of us are horrified.

Suddenly, we hear a commotion heading towards us. Sandra runs off in the direction of it; I assume it is to try to save any Omnic lives she can. I run after her, and encounter a massive crowd, and I hear sickly crunching sounds of Omnics being destroyed. I search as desperately as I can, but it is difficult with so many others in the way; I call her name, but get no response.

Then, I hear a scream. One that sounds terrifyingly familiar. 

I push through the crowd, although it is rapidly dispersing anyway, as Omnics attempt to run away from the violence. I continue to call Sandra’s name, and still hear nothing.

A few seconds later, I see her.

Sandra is a broken mass of parts on the ground. Wires are split and exposed, and there is a large hole in her middle.

“Sandy, no!” I shout, running to her side. I desperately attempt to reconstruct her, but it is to no avail. Her eyelights are off. Whatever hit her, she was torn apart in seconds. She is certainly dead, before I could even get to her.

I hold onto her body. My entire world is crashing down around me. I continue to hear the sounds of metal being crushed, but I barely register it, as I do anything I can to revive Sandra. Nothing works.

My dear Sandy. My sister. My everything. 

She is gone.

I look up, and in the distance, I see a payload move away. There are people there; I do not catch a glimpse of who they are, only seeing one thing: 

The Overwatch logo on the back of one of their weapons.

The organization I looked up to and believed in. It has taken everything from me. They claimed to care about Omnics. _Morrison_ claimed to care. But as I see the carnage around me, and look down at the remaining pieces of my beloved sister, I know that it was all a lie. A disgusting lie meant only to keep up appearances. I was such a fool. 

At that moment, I feel a level of rage that I had never experienced before. A cocktail of emotions, each more painful than the last. Disgust. Anger. Grief. Misery. Horror. 

Hatred.

\--

Things change after that day. I take over the Division, with renewed purpose. I finally understand Sandra’s ideals - not only that, but I experience more disdain for humans than she ever had. 

I contact Mr. Stillwater almost immediately, with a single mission in mind: destroy Overwatch.

He is delighted by my change of heart. He tells me that he has many plans for undermining and ending it, and that he would love my support.

My role is simple. Omnics were recently granted the right to vote in most countries. I get him the support of Omnics, allowing for his re-election to the Washington Senate and gaining a position in the UN, and he uses that position to increase his influence on other politicians. All for a single purpose: destroying Overwatch, once and for all.

So, I campaign for him. Eventually, he has such a strong base among Omnics that he does get his desire, and he is nominated for a position in the UN: on the General Assembly. The loftiest goal we could have hoped for.

Once he is among the UN, he instantly begins work on his plan. He makes connections with an organization called Talon. I do not get involved with them; their leaders do not seem particularly interested in my cause, and their desire to cause another Crisis is not what I am looking for. That would produce far too many Omnic casualties, although I would barely care at all about the loss of human life. All I care about, though, is that they will help us destroy Overwatch.

Stillwater seems to have far more influence in my Division than he previously did, to the point that it is difficult for me to make executive decisions, and he does not inform me of everything he does. I am not entirely comfortable with this; this is supposed to be an organization for Omnics, not more humans. However, I allow him to continue his activities unabated, as he has shown more success in damaging Overwatch than I ever could alone.

As time goes on, though, my rage at humans in general begins to soften. Perhaps it is merely the grief process marching on, or it may be the letters I frequently receive from humans expressing support for our cause. It could be the humanitarian response to the violence in King’s Row. Whatever it is, my hatred of Overwatch does not dim. It clearly does not have the best interests of either humans or Omnics in mind, if it could do something so wretched.

I do begin to get my wish, as it becomes clear that Overwatch is decaying. Protests against it occur worldwide, including some based on their actions towards Omnics. I think that perhaps the humans have some compassion in them after all.

As I am going through this change of heart, I overhear a plan from Stillwater that I most certainly do not support:

He plans an explosion at the Overwatch base in Zurich.

His expressed purpose is to kill Reyes and Morrison. I do not care for their deaths. Good riddance. However, I know that this action will have countless casualties other than them. I only seek to destroy Overwatch’s leadership; not every individual that has any role in it deserves death.

I ignore this possibility as much as I can. Perhaps it is merely an idea that will get scrapped in the future. I busy myself with work on data. At Mr. Stillwater’s request, I have attempted to somewhat decrease violence from our group, as it may lead to decreased support of us, and thus a decreased likelihood of Stillwater maintaining power.

It is not lost on me that my organization now seems more interested in Stillwater’s elections than it truly is on Omnic rights. I hope this will only be temporary.

Anxiety remains within me as I attempt to go about my days. Our data looks strong; our numbers are higher than ever, and there are even humans joining our cause now. I hope that this is a pattern of increased tolerance. Perhaps the future is bright. However, even this small beacon of hope is not enough to fully distract me from my internal turmoil. 

Then, the inevitable comes.

Stillwater comes to me and finally formally informs me of the planned explosion. He calls it “Operation: Switzerland,” and tells me that there are people awaiting my order. I reject it; however, he says that it is already in place, and that all that is left is for two of my Omnics to place the bomb. 

“Mr. Stillwater, that will kill hundreds of people,” I say. Please, anything but this…

Stillwater shakes his head. “Yes, which is tragic.” He sighs. “But we have to. There’s no other way to get to Morrison and Reyes, or to deliver a final blow to Overwatch that will make certain it won’t be able to fight anymore.”

If I was braver, I would have spoken up. Try to stop this. This isn’t what I want my cause to be. Even if it endangers my organization, I may be able to save innocent lives, to stop an excessive action in the name of good. If I was only brave enough...

...But I am not.

I look down at the floor. “I understand. I will have the bomb set up.”

Maybe this is what Sandra would have wanted. However, I still feel as if I have disappointed her with my inability to stand up for myself. She would never falter on her beliefs in this way. I have always known that I do not have her spirit or her bravery.

As Stillwater leaves, I look at the picture of her that I still have on my desk. A part of me wants to run after Stillwater and tell him to stop this, but instead, I press the call button and inform the Omnics waiting that the Operation is a go.

I look up at the ceiling, and think of the ideals I originally had when I was on the farm. How disgusted would Fred be with me?

“I am sorry,” I say aloud, as I close my eyes and await the news of the blast.


	15. Rescue

Jack woke up in a strange room, his arms and legs in chains. The lighting was very dim, just a bit brighter than pitch darkness. It made the vibe of the room incredibly depressing. Although he expected to be taken to some kind of prison cell, this wasn’t quite that; he could tell it was somewhat larger. There were no bars visible, either; in fact, he couldn’t find the entrance at all. It felt more like a basement than a prison...or some kind of dungeon.

Wait. Gabriel.

He searched around for the man he loved, but found nothing. Not at all surprising, but still terrifying. Whatever the hell they did with him, it certainly wouldn’t be anything pleasant. Although he hoped Gabriel would use his wraith abilities to get out somehow, he got the feeling that Stillwater wouldn’t be dumb enough to not account for that.

His first idea was to tug on the chains, but they were extremely strong. There was no way he’d be able to pull them out without removing the entire floor. Perfect for holding even the strongest scientific experiments.

Further investigation revealed...basically nothing. As he expected. What was there to do, except stare at the wall and worry about Gabriel? A tight feeling in his stomach continued to build as time went on. They could be doing so many things to him. If they were able to control the nanobots in his body, who knew how much pain they could put him in?

To give himself better vision, he tapped his visor against the chain, turning it back on; he was lucky they hadn’t broken it. Instantly, everything around him became clearer. The heat sensors in his visor detected no activity, meaning nobody was hiding anywhere. Unfortunately, it didn’t do much else, except show him the location of the entrance (which he assumed was the only exit, as well). It was only a locked door. If he could only get to it, he could probably kick it down. The chains didn’t exactly allow for that.

All he could do was wait.

_ Meanwhile _

Listening to this was giving McCree a sinking feeling.

“This can’t be good…” Winston said.

It had been many hours since Jack and Reyes had left for their mission; far longer than they had expected. The other members of Overwatch had decided to listen to the audio from Jack’s wire, and the results were...discouraging, to say the least. Although they did get some valuable information, this was followed by a fight, then the sound cutting out. Since then, none of them had heard anything.

“You’re damn right it ain’t,” McCree said, getting the distinct urge to punch a wall. “You got any idea where they are?”

Winston shook his head, looking sheepish. “We know where Stillwater’s house is, but they could be anywhere by now.” 

Their conversation was interrupted by a buzzing coming from the computer. An incoming message, marked ‘Unknown Sender’. Winston pressed the button to accept the transmission immediately.

_ “Listen carefully.”  _ The audio was distorted, and the image was only a black screen. This was someone that wanted to keep their identity hidden. Sketchy as all hell. 

_ “Reyes and Morrison are at the Talon base in Rome. I cannot get to Reyes, as he is in the medical bay, which is beyond my clearance. They perform human experimentation there, so I do not believe you have much time before something very unpleasant happens to him.”  _ McCree did  _ not  _ like the sound of that. Especially not if Moira was there.  _ “It is your decision whether you believe me or not. However, if you do not act soon, it may become too late. If you do heed my request, please do so as quickly as possible. Thank you for your time.” _

McCree had no idea what to make of that.

The room was silent for a few moments. “So...should we go?” Lena said, verbalizing exactly what McCree had been thinking.

“It must be a trap,” Genji said.

Winston put a finger on his chin. “But what other leads do we have?” 

“And every minute that passes, they could be getting killed...or worse,” Brigitte said, cringing.

“We cannot just sit here and wait,” Reinhardt added, voice much quieter than usual. The type of forlorn mood that was rare from him.

Genji crossed his arms. “I suppose I am overruled, then?”

Lena looked over at Winston. “It’s your call, Commander,” she said; it was bizarre to hear Winston referred to with that title. Just a turn of events that McCree never would’ve expected.

“Well…” Winston started. There was a pause, as he looked deep in thought. He stood up. “Let’s go find our friends.”

As Lena cheered and several others began preparations, a certain spirited feeling spread throughout the room. The people here really had can-do attitudes. It was the kind of thing that McCree was a bit too old and jaded to relate to, but one he could appreciate nonetheless. It got the job done.

He stared at the screen one last time before getting up to make his own preparations.

_ We’ll get you outta there, boss. _

\--

Some time passed. Jack wasn’t sure how long - who could tell time at all in a room with no clock or outside light? 

During this time, all Jack could do was stew in his own thoughts, and he  _ hated  _ doing that. The familiar self-blame was coming through. He should’ve never taken Gabriel somewhere so dangerous. Always rushing into danger. Always getting other people hurt with his own recklessness. God, he was such an idiot. And now who knew where Gabriel could be? What could they be doing to him? The thoughts made him want to scream.

Finally, an interruption did come in his thoughts. He’d have been thankful if it weren’t for what the sound was: footsteps coming down the hall. Whoever this person was, he hated having anyone be near him when he was in this vulnerable of a position. It made him feel defenseless - a feeling that was perfectly justified when he was trapped in chains.

The footsteps got closer, and nervousness mounted in Jack, spreading throughout his body. He was frozen in place, as if that would make them forget he was there. 

That did not work, and he heard someone at the door. He had a moment of terror as the door began to open.

It was Conway, and he was holding a key.

Jack bared his teeth at the Omnic. “What the hell do you want?”

Conway sighed. However, unlike how he’d appeared in their most recent interaction, his head was held high, and he exuded much more confidence. “I did not stop an atrocity from occurring last time. I will never make that mistake again.”

That vague statement mostly just left Jack confused, and he froze up as Conway started to move closer. Eventually, he was within arm’s length of Jack. He reached towards Jack’s ankle; although Jack got the temptation to kick him away, he couldn’t move his leg enough to do so.

To Jack’s shock, though, he felt the chain on one leg come undone, then the other. The same was done for his arms. He was released.

Baffled, he did nothing but stare for a few seconds. Then, he decided to actually take advantage, and stood up for the first time in what had to have been hours. His legs were shaky, and he barely managed to avoid falling over.

“You’re...rescuing me?” Jack asked, still in a bit of shock.

Conway nodded. “We may not be friends, but...perhaps Stillwater is not my friend, either.” Jack wasn’t sure what to make of that statement. “I cannot stand by and watch him bring harm to you. Perhaps a part of me still cares for Overwatch.”

Jack was still a bit suspicious that this might be some kind of trap, but he didn’t immediately attack Conway. At least let him speak. “Do you know where Gabe is?”

“Yes,” Conway said, and a surge of hope went through Jack. “But rescuing him will require us to go through the heart of the Talon base, and they will not appreciate me releasing their hostage. He is in the medical bay, which they will certainly not allow us into by normal means.” Whatever they planned to do to him there, it was probably atrocious. “I have done what I can to call the rest of Overwatch for backup, but I am not sure when they will arrive. You must be prepared for a fight.”

“Oh, I’m always prepared for that,” Jack said with a smirk. Entirely false bravado, considering he was decidedly not ready when he was in chains, but Conway didn’t need to know that.

Conway looked at him, but did not say anything. As if he had something to tell him, but couldn’t manage to say it. Jack waited for him to spit it out, not moving from the spot he was in. 

The Omnic eventually gave in. “I must admit something to you,” he said, hanging his head. Jack raised an eyebrow. “The final call for the explosion at Zurich...was mine. I did not orchestrate the plan, but I confirmed it. It may not mean much to you, but I sincerely apologize.” He sounded utterly ashamed of himself.

Jack wasn’t too shocked. As disgusting of an action as it was, he suspected something of the sort. “I figured,” Jack said, looking away. “I can’t forgive you yet. But if you keep behaving, maybe someday I will.”

Conway held his head back up. “That is all I can wish for.” He turned around. “Come. We must save Reyes.”

Although Jack still didn’t trust him completely, it was the only shot he really had. Gabriel could be in terrible danger right now. Any chance he had was one he was willing to take. 

So, against his better judgment, he followed Conway out of the cell, only hoping that it wasn’t too late.

\--

Once outside of the cell, Jack wanted to take off running, but Conway was a bit more strategic. He stood beside Jack, as if he was guiding a prisoner somewhere (which he technically was, he supposed). People in the base gave them strange looks, but did not intervene. 

This worked until they got near the center of the base, to what Jack assumed was the medical bay. 

A guard stopped them. “ID, please.”

Conway looked at Jack. All three of them merely stood awkwardly, until they heard a charging sound behind them, and the alarms started to go off. The guard ran in the direction of the sound, leaving the door available.

“Overwatch?” Jack asked.

“Sounds like it,” Conway said, already beginning to open the door.

With the door open, he saw Gabriel, his mask removed. His blood ran cold.

Gabriel was strapped to an operating table; a needle in his arm plugged into a machine, which Jack assumed was restraining him. His eyes were closed, which terrified Jack for a split second, but his chest was still rising. Still breathing, thank Christ. The scientist at the table turned towards them, then froze. Immediately, he moved to hit a button on the machine.

Before he could, Jack punched the man directly in the face, knocking him over. Using the time he was down, Jack moved to unplug the machine; suddenly, though, a Talon agent tackled him to the ground. Another piled on top of him.

Someone came in through the open door. It was Stillwater. He was holding a gun.

He tsked. “Conway, I’m disappointed.” Jack glared at him, struggling under the agents holding him down. “There’s one way you can prove yourself, though.” He handed the gun to Conway, who took it with a shaking hand. “Do the honors.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Jack growled.

“It’s simple, Jack,” he said. “It’s politics. You do what you can to promote your cause. No matter what it takes.”

Jack scoffed. “Cause, my ass. You just want to keep power.”

“Believe what you want,” he said. He looked back at Conway. “Are you really going to support this man? The one who destroyed everything we held dear?”

Gun in hand, Conway stared at both Jack and Stillwater. He held it straight forward, not pointed at either of them. None of them moved a muscle. “I…”

“Conway, you don’t have to be this. Can’t you tell he’s using you?” Jack said. He did his best to trust that Conway would do the right thing.

“Well? Shoot him,” Stillwater said, ignoring Jack. “This is what we wanted. What Sandra wanted.”

Conway slowly moved the gun in Jack’s direction, then stopped. “You do  _ not  _ speak for her.” 

The gun turned towards Stillwater, then fired. Right in the head. Looks like Conway was a good shot.

Conway dropped the gun to the ground. As much as Jack would like to support him through this internal turmoil, he had something more important to take care of. The Talon agents atop him appeared just as shocked as he was; he used this distraction to throw both of them off him, launching them across the room. Wasting no time, he reached over and unplugged the machine; Gabriel’s eyes instantly opened, and he took a deep breath. Jack helped him off the operating table.

“You OK?” Jack said. “Did they hurt you?” He started trying to inspect Gabriel for wounds. “I was so fucking scared--”

“No time,” Gabriel said. Jack wasn’t satisfied, and continued to look over him. Gabriel sighed. “I’m fine. They didn’t have time to do anything.”

Next to him, Conway stared at the ground, not moving. In a moment of...kindness? Weakness? Jack grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door. “C’mon!” He shouted. There was something in that Omnic worth saving. There had to be.

An alarm was going off throughout the base. Other Talon agents began chasing them through the hall. Before they could catch up to the three of them, though, he saw Genji pass by and kick the closest one backwards. Other Overwatch agents came behind them; McCree shot at the crowd to drive them back, while Lena gestured for the three of them to follow her. Hopefully she knew the way out.

The team ran through the base. Reinhardt held his shield in front of them, keeping any attacks from the front away, while McCree continued to hold them back from behind. Massive amounts of adrenaline coursed through Jack. After what felt like forever, the exit was in sight; without any hesitation, Reinhardt body slammed the door, knocking it open. Everyone followed through the opening.

“Over here!” Winston yelled, and pointed northward. There, Jack saw an Overwatch ship. With agents still on their tail, they ran towards it. Winston reached the ship and opened the door, and everyone funneled inside; Jack threw Conway through the door, as well. He was sure Conway would hesitate if he didn’t, and they didn’t have time for that right now.

Lena started the ship, and it began to rise, far more slowly than Jack would’ve liked. Luckily, it was fast enough for them to get into the air before the Talon agents reached them. The agents yelled from the ground. Jack slammed the door closed.

Standing next to the door, Jack tried to catch his breath. He looked to his side and saw Gabriel there. Thank God.

“You hurt?” Jack asked, when he could breathe enough to talk.

“No,” Gabriel said. “You?”

Jack shook his head, then surveyed the room. Everyone else looked fine as well. Just very winded.

Soon enough, everyone began to regain energy, and started talking amongst themselves. “What do we do now?” Gabriel asked. 

Jack patted him on the shoulder. “Well, don’t think Talon’s gonna want you back now, so looks like you’re stuck with us.” 

Gabriel shrugged. “I’m OK with that, I guess.” Jack put his arm around Gabriel, who leaned into his hold. Gabriel looked at Conway. “What about you?” He said. His tone still sounded hostile. It wasn’t unexpected; even if Gabriel wasn’t aware of the extent of Conway’s involvement in the explosion, he still was aware that he had  _ something  _ to do with it, and Gabriel wasn’t the most forgiving person. It couldn’t be helped.

If Conway was affected by this, he didn’t show it. “I think I will return to the farm. I will think of it as my retirement.” 

Another farm boy? Maybe they could relate to each other after all. “Y’know, if you ever wanna call me up, I think you know my number,” Jack said. Even if he didn’t find it with Jack’s consent.

He nodded. “I would like that.” He turned to look out the window of the ship. Maybe he valued scenery more than Jack knew. “You are a kind man, Jack Morrison. Do not lose that part of yourself the way I did.” 

An odd statement, but not an unwelcome one. “Hey, if none of the other shit I went through knocked it out of me, there isn’t much else the world can do to stop it.”

He chuckled, and said nothing else. What a strange man.

Jack looked back down at Gabriel, who was still clinging to him. Just as a way to celebrate his victory, he took his mask off and kissed the top of Gabriel’s head. 

“I love you,” Jack said, holding him as tightly as he could. It was a frightening thing to admit, after everything that had happened, but he was sure of it.

“Sappy old man,” Gabriel said, rubbing the top of Jack’s head; although he joked, the affection in his eyes was something that couldn’t be faked. “Love you too,” he said, quietly. 

He looked around at the rest of the team, who talked with varying degrees of excitement. His family.

For the first time in five god damn years, things were looking up.

\--

The courts were surprisingly lenient towards them. With some intense negotiation, Jack was pardoned entirely; Winston and Lena managed to set up an agreement in which Jack was required to obey the law in the future or face much more severe punishment, but he was not an immediate danger to the public. A little bit of status really went a long way.

Gabriel was not quite as lucky, but considering his body count, it was barely a slap on the wrist. If he agreed to retire the Reaper actions permanently, and give information regarding Talon and other terrorist organizations to the UN, they let him off with a plan: he was not to leave the Overwatch base for six months, then could leave with a chaperone for six months afterwards. They would convene for another decision in a year. There was extensive celebration among all of Overwatch that night.

Jack got back into the base after a short mission, and did the first thing he always did upon coming back to the base: found Gabriel. It was sad that he couldn’t come along for now, but he supposed that was just reality. It was more important that he got to see Gabriel at all.

He found Gabriel lounging in the rec room. He wasn’t allowed to wear the mask anymore by court order. At first, Gabriel was horrified by this; however, some cosmetic surgery led to him being more accepting of his own face, and he usually wore sunglasses to cover his red eyes (he had a pair with skulls on the rim that he said was ‘fucking badass’, and had grown very attached to them). None of them could find a cure for the rest of his condition, and it didn’t completely end his insecurity, but at least he wasn’t too upset to leave Jack’s room.

Noticing Jack coming into the room, Gabriel looked at him with a grin. It was so nice to see Gabriel’s expressions again. Secretly, Jack had been relieved by the order to not wear his mask. Seeing his face, no matter what it looked like, was a privilege Jack wanted to have at all times.

“Hey, old man,” Gabriel said. “Nice to see you didn’t break a hip out there.”

Jack rolled his eyes, trying not to let on how much he enjoyed Gabriel teasing him. “No, and I didn’t get shot by any black-robed terrorists, either.”

“It was one time!” Gabriel said. 

There was something enjoyable about laughing at their painful past. It made it easier to cope with.

They were interrupted by several agents walking in, also coming back from the same mission. “What’s up, boss?” McCree said, making a finger gun at Gabriel, who waved in return.

Jack always appreciated the two of them getting along. 

He got a little closer to Gabriel, wrapping his arms around the man. “Wanna have lunch?”

“Can’t you two get a room?” McCree said.

“Don’t be jealous, kid,” Gabriel said, reaching up to kiss Jack’s cheek in as dramatic a motion as possible.

McCree shook his head. “I ain’t jealous of you two senior citizens.”

Lena appeared next to him, laughing. “You guys are so cute.” Gabriel and McCree looked offended at this assertion. “Dad, Genji made ramen. We have to get it while it’s hot.”

There was something he loved about eating with the younger agents. They all looked so chipper and full of life. It put a smile on his face to see them talk to each other. “On my way.” He grabbed Gabriel by the arm and started to pull him up. “Let’s go, lazy ass.”

“You lock me up in here, then you call me lazy for not doing anything?” He whined.

“Shut up before we leave without you,” Jack said, forcing him up. He dramatically groaned as he got up. “There, that wasn’t so hard.”

“It was. I don’t think I can stand now,” he said. “You should carry me.”

Jack scoffed. “Aren’t you supposed to be a super soldier?” He laughed, then patted Gabriel on the shoulder. “For me?”

Gabriel sighed. “ _ Just  _ for you.”

As they walked through the halls, Jack waved at Mei, who smiled at him. How one person could be so sweet was beyond him.

They sat down at the table, Genji proudly talking to Lena about his creation. He ate a bit of the ramen. It was delicious. Very authentic.

The other agents began talking and laughing around him, and he put his arm around Gabriel, who gave him a genuine smile.

He was finally home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's the end! thank you for everyone who supported this. it was one hell of a journey for me to write, and i put a lot of love into it. thanks for reading, and for comments and kudos, they mean a ton to me! <3


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